


Stir It Up

by NoheaAloha



Category: Outer Banks (TV)
Genre: ADHD, Because it's JJ's life story, But it would be minor, Craziness will happen, Dyslexia, Gen, Kooks versus Pogues, Luke Maybank's A+ Parenting, Marijuana, Multi, Neglect, Physical Abuse, Rafe is an asshole, Sex Education, Shoplifting, Some fighting with Kooks, The Pogues' Freshman Year, Underage Drinking, Verbal Abuse, high school fic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-23
Updated: 2020-09-04
Packaged: 2021-03-07 01:53:29
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 11
Words: 46,536
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26079037
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/NoheaAloha/pseuds/NoheaAloha
Summary: JJ Maybank is starting high school and is just trying to get by without doing too much work, surfing as much as possible and partying with his friends.He really should know better by now than to expect that to be all there is to his freshman year.(prequel to Ocean Breathes Salty)
Comments: 69
Kudos: 124





	1. The Boneyard

**Author's Note:**

> Here we go! The Pogues are officially in high school and are so ready. In this chapter, they go to their first party at the Boneyard, have an encounter with Rafe and JJ tries (and fails) to start high school normally. 
> 
> Thanks for reading!

To JJ, the best part about starting high school was definitely the parties. It was basically an unwritten Kildare rule; you weren’t allowed to even step foot at The Boneyard for a kegger until you had had your last day at Kildare Middle School (or Kook Douchebag Prep School, but JJ didn’t care about them). John B. and JJ had tried it once and had been chased out of there before they could count to fifteen. Of course, they had lied to Pope and Kie and told them that they just left early because it was lame. Pope threw popcorn at them when they said that and Kie rolled her eyes and told them to quit lying.

It was the first Friday night of the summer after eighth grade and The Pogues were officially high schoolers. Basically their entire eight grade class was going (along with the rising sophomores, juniors and seniors) to The Boneyard tonight since it was tradition and John B. and JJ were at the chateau getting ready.

JJ was in John B.’s room, throwing clothes out of his backpack, trying to find something that wasn’t an old t-shirt to wear. 

“John B, can I borrow a shirt? My shit is so middle school man.” JJ called out. John B. didn’t answer from where JJ knew he was spraying himself with his dad’s cologne in the bathroom and working on his hair. JJ took that as a “hell yes, JJ, you look better in my clothes anyway”. 

JJ opened John B.’s dresser where he kept his shirts and pulled things out, throwing the patterned shirts that John B. had started to wear onto the floor until he came to a plain black short-sleeved button up. He ripped off his t-shirt and pulled it on. It was a little big on him, but it was better than what he had in his own pile.

“JJ, what the hell? You can’t just throw my shit all over the room. Is that my shirt?” John B. appeared in the doorway and JJ pretended to choke as the cologne wafted over to him. John B. pushed him and he fell onto the bed dramatically. He pushed himself up onto his elbows and watched as John B. picked up his crazy shirts and shoved them back in his drawer, huffing under his breath. 

“Yeah it’s your shirt, bro. You said I could borrow one. I don’t have shit else to wear and it looks better on me. Can I keep it?” JJ asked from the bed. 

“No, you can’t keep it JJ. Get your own clothes.” John B. said as he walked over to the mirror and checked on his hair again. 

“I would, but it’s so much easier to just take yours” JJ shrugged as he got up and walked towards the door. “Come on, princess. Your hair looks beautiful. Let’s go before Pope and Kie ditch us. You know it’s bad when even Pope is ready to party before us.”

Ten minutes later, JJ and John B. were walking down the path to Rixon’s Cove, where they had said they would meet Kiara and Pope. JJ was happy that he had thought ahead to roll a blunt earlier in the day for this exact moment. He pushed John B.’s hand away when he reached up to steal it out of his mouth. 

“Hang on. I haven’t even lit it yet. Jesus.” He said, more to himself as he pulled out his lighter and took the first few hits. 

John B. grabbed it after he took too long of one and said “It’s the most important party of our lives JJ. I just want-” He was cut off by JJ pulling him out of the way and into the trees on the side of the road as a tricked out Jeep almost ran them over, swerving and honking at them as it went by on the dirt road. 

“Out of our way, Pogues!” Yelled a Kook from the driver's seat, who JJ recognized from his shifts as a busboy at the country club. Rafe Cameron. Asshole and rising senior. JJ held up his middle finger at the Jeep as it’s tail lights disappeared around the corner and called out an insult, even though he knew they couldn’t see or hear them anymore. 

They had heard that The Boneyard parties often ended in fights. Sometimes minor fights and sometimes huge brawls. It was bound to happen when you put a bunch of Pogues and Kooks in the same area with alcohol, weed and sometimes some other drugs. The age old problem was that it was the only place on the island where the cops never ever showed up and parties could go down. There was nothing for miles out there. 

JJ didn’t care about the fights though. He would happily punch out a Kook or two if he had to. He wondered if the punch would feel expensive. 

“Come on guys! What the hell took you so long?” Kiara shouts out at them as they reach Rixon’s. She’s wearing a crop top that JJ can’t help but appreciate (subtly of course, he would never openly ogle at Kie if he could help it) and was standing with Pope, who must have been feeling daring tonight because his top button on his shirt was undone. 

“John B. had to do his hair for like, two hours.” JJ complained as they started walking. He ducked out of the way when John B. tried to push him. 

“Just because I don’t want my hair to look like a golden mop that’s been electrified-”

“Mop? Electrified? My hair is fucking beautiful dude. Ask literally any girl and they will tell you they love it”

“I do love your hair” Kie said as she reached over to ruffle it up, laughing when JJ tried to get away and stealing the blunt from him first. 

“Shut up guys. We all know I have the best hair in the group. I literally do nothing to it and it’s perfect” Pope cut in. 

“It is perfect, I will admit.” JJ said. 

“Aw, that’s so sweet, thank you, JJ.” Pope said as he reached out and patted him on the cheek, pretending to blow him a kiss.

They heard music and saw a fire through the bushes and knew they had arrived at their first major party and definitely the most official party they had ever been to. The party that would make or break their party careers.

JJ was prepared to do some crazy shit tonight to make a name for himself. Pope must have sensed it because he grabbed his shoulders and said “No crazy shit tonight, JJ. Please. I’m begging you. Can we just have a fun, normal night and enjoy the moment?”

“No chance, Pope. Let’s go guys!” John B. said as he raced towards their group of friends. 

Two hours later and all four of them were wasted. Pope more than anyone because he hadn’t been prepping for this moment like the other three. Although, even JJ was wasted, having cup after cup offered to him was not something he was used to and not something he wanted to live without again. This didn’t even come close to the beers they would sneak and share occasionally during middle school. 

Everything had been relatively calm so far. The Kooks were staying on one side and The Pogues mostly on the other, respecting each other’s differences (for now). JJ had started to ramp up his stunts as the party went on and Kie literally had to grab his ankles and save him from burning up in the bonfire when he tried to impress a girl with his handstands and almost fell into it. 

After three hours, the party was winding down and everyone from both sides were starting to throw their cups away and head towards the path to go home. Of course, The Kooks all had fancy cars they hid in a treeless area near the beach, but they didn’t always have a designated driver that followed through on his/her duties so most Pogues walked home along the beach to avoid getting run over. 

The good Samaritans were staying behind as everyone else left to pick up all the plastic cups and trash left behind. JJ had to drag Kie away, claiming that they had four years of parties to pick up cups and that they needed to get Pope home before he died. 

As they were walking out, someone pushed Pope over after walking so close to them that their shoulder knocked into his and he fell to the ground. John B. bent over to help him up saying “Easy there buddy” when they heard laughter.

“Isn’t that the second time tonight I told you Pogues to get out of our way?” JJ knew without even needing to turn his head that it was Rafe Cameron. The same guy who just last week had complained to JJ’s manager that he had taken his plate before he was done after snapping his fingers and telling JJ to pick up his plate. The same guy who almost killed John B. earlier and now just went for Pope. 

JJ stepped over to him and pushed him, as hard as he could. “Touch another one of my friends again and we are going to have a problem”.

Rafe and his friends laughed at JJ like he wasn’t dead serious. “I don’t know, I wouldn’t mind touching Kiara”. He said as he made a point to look her body up and down. 

Kie spoke up before JJ could even open his mouth, “If you even try to touch my body, I will personally cut both of your hands off and feed them to you, Rafe. Now fuck off and leave us alone.” JJ looked over at Kiara with raised eyebrows. Damn. As if she couldn’t get any cooler for a girl in his eyes. 

Rafe stopped laughing immediately and his friends tensed up behind him, ready to fight. “Threaten me again and I’ll beat all of your little boyfriends' heads into the ground”. 

JJ took offense to that. He had been basically getting the shit beaten out of him by a grown man for as long as he could remember and sure as fuck wasn’t going to let someone in a pink polo shirt so much as threaten to beat him in a fight. He didn’t hesitate to punch Rafe in his smug face, taking satisfaction when he saw some blood drip from his nose all the way down to the little crocodile on the pocket of his little pink shirt. 

From there, it was full on war for almost two solid minutes until Kie finally made the smartest decision of the night to steal Rafe’s car keys from his bag he had dropped and threatened to throw them into the ocean if they didn’t stop. When he and his friends paused and let go of her friends, she threw them into the woods behind her and The Pogues booked it in the opposite direction as fast as they could. They could hear Rafe and his crew yelling behind them, but they didn’t pursue them, too worried about the precious Jeep his dad had bought him.

John B. and JJ were laughing hysterically and Pope almost collapsed onto the sand when they finally got to a safe enough part of the beach to take a break. Kie had her hands on her knees as she caught her breath. 

“Are you guys ok?” She asked in between breaths. 

JJ whooped and high fived John B. “Pogue Life, baby! Never better. Kie that was amazing. Way to threaten the Kooks. John B.,nice right hook. Pope, good job staying upright!” He felt the adrenaline pumping through his veins, mixing with the weed from earlier and the beer. 

High school was definitely going to be better than middle school. 

____________________________________________________________________________

Summer was pretty good, they all had jobs and different projects they were working on, but when they weren’t working, they spent their days riding around on the HMS Pogue, daring each other to do crazy shit. JJ perfected his backflips and they had some more boneyard keggers and it was overall a really good summer. Luke had been working at the Marina near the docks for the past few months after smuggling for the past year and hadn’t been too moody since he started, and JJ spent almost everyday with his friends anyways, so that was a plus.

On the first day of high school, John B. and JJ rode the bus. They met Pope in the lobby and they all went into the cafeteria together to find the table with their last name so that they could get their schedules. 

It was also Kie’s first day at Kildare Prep, and while JJ felt her pain at having to be surrounded by Kooks for seven hours a day, he still couldn’t resist asking if she could bring them back some of their fancy cafeteria desserts he had seen when she had shown them the pamphlet. He didn’t believe her when she told him that was just for the photo. 

JJ made his way to the table for last names J-P and waited in line impatiently, looking around at the huge cafeteria. It was way bigger than Kildare Middle and it also hadn’t been built that long ago, so it was actually kind of nice. JJ hated school, but he had to admit, he was thinking about actually staying for a whole week sometime without skipping and seeing what it’s like. 

“Name?” The lady at the desk asked when it was JJ’s turn. He told her his last name and she looked through the files she had in her organizer. She kept going up and then back down the row of folders looking for his name. After a minute, she stopped and said “Did your mom register you for school? Your name isn’t in here.”

JJ ignored the familiar twang that happened deep in his chest when someone assumed he had a mom and said kind of stupidly “You have to register?”. The woman sighed loudly like JJ had told her that she was the one who wasn’t registered for high school. 

She was really dramatic when she stood up and said “Follow me” over her shoulder without looking back. JJ followed her towards the office, shrugging at John B. when he caught his eye from across the room.

The lady opened the office door and pointed to one of the hard plastic chairs they had for parents and students to wait during times like these. She loudly explained to the secretary the situation and the secretary peered at JJ like he had just slapped her before talking to the lady who had brought him in as if there wasn’t a line of other high schoolers she had left waiting for their schedules. The secretary, whose name plate said Mrs. Miller, went back to typing furiously on her computer for a whole five minutes before she finally gestured for JJ to come over to her desk.

“What’s your name?” She asked JJ, barely looking away from the computer and continuing to type. 

“JJ Maybank.”

Her eyebrows shot up a little and then her eyes narrowed slightly, but it seemed reflexive. JJ knew his older cousins had caused hell in high school. She smoothed her face out again and said, “What’s your mom’s number? We need to call her so she can register you for school. She’s going to have to come get you and if you haven’t had your immunizations, you’re going to need to go to the doctor and do that too before you can start.”

JJ hated when he was put into situations like this. Everyone always assumed you had a mom and every time someone asked him questions like these it felt like it physically hurt to answer. He pushed down his emotions and tried to focus on answering her questions. 

“I live with my dad but he’s probably at work.” JJ said.

Mrs. Miller sighed (JJ thought she and the other lady should have a contest for who has the hardest life) and said “There’s no one else we can call?” JJ shook his head no and shrugged. “Well your dad is going to have to leave work. You can’t stay here all day and you have to start school. It’s the law.” JJ didn't point out that he was trying to start school but the law was preventing him. He didn't think she would see his point. 

“I guess he just thought I was already registered.” Deep down, JJ knew that wasn’t true. His dad didn't think anything. He just didn’t care. They had the problem with the immunizations basically every year, but he had never not been allowed to go to school on the first day. “I’m always late to get the shots and I’ve always been able to start school before.”

“Yeah, but the law changed this year and you also aren’t registered. Your dad needs to show us proof of address and all of that. The packet was sent to your house before you finished middle school.” Mrs. Miller said back at him, raising her eyebrows like it was JJ’s fault his dad threw their mail into a huge pile on the table, before letting it sit there for months and eventually throwing it away. 

“Can’t I just walk home and let him know when he gets back from work?” JJ asked, already planning a surf session.

“No. You’re a minor. We can’t just let you leave school without an adult.” Mrs. Miller looked at him like he was crazy.

“But you just said I’m not a student here. So why can’t I leave? I’ll come back tomorrow with the paperwork and sh-stuff” JJ said, just catching himself before he got more onto Mrs. Miller’s bad side with his language. 

“What’s your dad’s number?”

___________________________________________________________________________

Two entire hours later and JJ felt like he was going to die from sitting in the hard office chair with Mrs. Miller tapping loudly on the keyboard. He heard everyone else having their normal first day and couldn’t help but feel jealous. Why did this shit always happen to him?

Luke had actually answered the first time Mrs. Miller had tried him so at least she couldn’t be mad at him for that. But he still hadn’t come and JJ was going nuts. He didn’t want his dad to come, he knew how that went when he had to be called to school or do anything related to JJ, but he also was going to rip his own eyes out if he had to sit there anymore. 

His dad came into the office right as Mrs. Miller had sat down with her heated up lunch. She sighed and it sounded like a mini scream. JJ almost laughed but he was too worried about his dad’s reaction and mood to feel any humor.

Turns out, his dad was high, he could tell right away by the way he was walking and by the way he didn't glare at JJ, trying to scare the shit out of him. JJ thought it was probably the kind of high where he would hug JJ and call him “his boy” and scrub a hand through JJ’s hair. It was also the kind of high where he wouldn’t last long before passing out. JJ wondered if his dad had had a day off or had been fired. Why else would he be high in the middle of the day.

“Are you Mr. Maybank?” Mrs. Miller asked, making it clear in her tone what she thought about him and his offspring. “I called you two hours ago, sir. This is not a daycare.”

Luke was staying steady by gripping onto the counter of her desk and actually laughed and said “I thought that’s exactly what school was.” She glared at him and his dad actually had the audacity to continue, saying, “I went to the wrong school. Forgot he wasn’t still in middle school”. 

Mrs. Miller rolled her eyes and said “clearly” before she handed Luke the packet for registration and the immunization forms. She explained the situation to him and let him know that the school nurse had called JJ's doctor (there was only one pediatrician on The Cut) and set up their appointment for an hour from now. Luke took the forms and gestured for JJ to come with him. JJ, beyond eager to get out of the office chair and less nervous now that he saw his dad was so high, followed behind him immediately. 

Mrs. Miller had to have known that he was high, after all, she was working in a high school. She was the type of person to see it, recognize it and do nothing but gossip to the other ladies in the office about it. JJ had experienced that a lot in his school career. She apparently didn't care if his dad crashed them into a tree or killed someone else on the way to the doctor. 

His dad had parked the car crookedly and up on the curb of the bus loop. JJ offered to drive and Luke accepted without a fight. It wasn’t the first time JJ had had to illegally drive them somewhere. He drove them to the doctors and they waited in the parking lot together since they were thirty minutes early. His dad kept falling asleep on him. He took the registration packet from his dad and started to fill out the very top part that he could understand, but had to stop pretty quickly. He hoped his dad would be coherent enough to do it later that day.

Luke woke up and asked where they were for the fifth time. JJ told him he was about to go into the doctor for his shots and Luke managed to slur out that he should see if he could get a refill of Ritalin before passing out again. Typical, that his dad could remember what medications JJ got, but couldn't even remember that he started high school. 

JJ got out of the car and went inside, leaving the car on for his dad and hoping he wouldn't wake up and try to drive away. He managed to fill out the doctors forms by himself, thanks to the tricks he had learned working with Ms. Meadows, the special ed teacher, at Kildare Middle. 

He did actually need his Ritalin refilled and his dad’s shitty insurance actually did cover it, so he came out with a refill having been called into their local pharmacy. He was hoping to actually get to it before his dad was cognizant enough to go and pick up his own prescriptions because they always gave him JJ’s too and he always stole it. It actually did help JJ be able to sit in a classroom for most of the day, as much as he didn’t like to take it. He would like to start high school not being a total fuck up who can’t sit through a class.

JJ drove them home after, sucking on his lollipop he got from the doctors and helped his dad inside and onto the couch. His dad told him he was a good boy as he fell asleep again and JJ tried to accept the compliment, even though he knew his sober dad felt the exact opposite. He left the registration packet right by the table next to their couch, hoping his dad would wake up and actually fill it out. JJ never thought he would be eager to start school. 

He dumped his backpack and changed out of his school clothes and into his board shorts and a t-shirt. 

If he didn’t have to go to school he was going to go surfing until he could.


	2. Unstoppable

It took a whole three days before JJ was actually registered for school. It had been fun being able to surf all day at first, but that quickly got boring when he was on his own on the beach with just some college graduates who hadn’t gotten jobs yet from Figure Eight. Although, he did have fun watching them fuck up easy waves with their fancy boards while he hit every trick.

He would surf and then ride around on his bike, not sure where to go or what to do with himself without his friends. A cop had stopped him once, thinking he had caught him being truant, and he had had to explain the whole registration issue yet again. Luckily, the cop had actually driven away after asking him some condescending questions. JJ couldn’t handle the cops bringing him home right now. 

JJ went to The Chateau a little bit before John B. was supposed to get home everyday. Twice, Big John had been there and they had a few awkward conversations (they usually had John B. as a middle man), as he probably wondered why JJ was there when his own son wasn’t. When JJ had explained that his dad hadn’t registered him for school in time, Big John had looked at him kind of sadly before telling him “stay as long as you want, kid”. He knew Luke enough to not be surprised.

JJ was basically dying for social interaction by the time John B. came through the door those three days. He tried not to look too eager at first but then realized it was just John B. and so he asked him a hundred questions as John B. made some crazy combination of junk food as an after school snack and wolfed it down.

They hadn’t seen Pope or Kie at all during the week. Well, John B. said he saw Pope in the hallways sometimes, but he spent all his time during school in honors classes and after school doing homework. When John B. told JJ that he said “The first week of school is like the only week where even kids like Pope do nothing. What could he possibly be working on?” John B. agreed with him.

Kie had texted Pope and John B. a lot, since they both had cell phones now, complaining about being in Kooklandia and how she had nothing in common with anyone and no friends. She had to wear a fancy uniform which JJ told John B. was super hot when he showed him the picture she sent. John B. had agreed with him again. JJ told him to text her that from him and John B. told him he didn’t want his balls cut off, thanks.

Every night that week, when JJ went home, he would look over at the table by the sofa where he had left the registration packet, hoping that Luke would have finally filled it out. Luke had woken up the day after the fiasco and had been in a terrible mood, yelling and tossing things around in the living room when JJ had woken up and he hadn’t really calmed down since. JJ had a bruise on his shoulder to prove it.

He hadn’t asked his dad about filling the packet out yet, not wanting to get slapped or yelled at, but he had decided that if it wasn’t done by Thursday night when he got home, he would have to remind him. 

Luckily for JJ, when he got home, it actually was filled out and thrown onto the top of endless things on their kitchen counter. His dad had spilled beer on it and had crossed out a lot of things and rewritten them in the tiny space that was left. He was most likely drunk when he had filled it out. JJ tried not to care when he saw that his dad had written the wrong date of birth for JJ and had had to cross it out and fix it. Mrs. Miller was going to have to accept it.

His dad was nowhere to be seen, which worked for JJ. He put the packet in his backpack, along with a few bills he had found that proved their address (as if anyone would lie about living on The Cut), and was actually feeling pretty excited to start high school. He never thought he would be dying to go to school, but he also hated missing out on things.

The next day, he was feeling really good when he got on the bus with John B. Honestly, going to school only on a Friday and then having the whole weekend with his friends was his kind of lifestyle. 

When he got to school, he parted from John B. who was heading over to Pope and some other friends to mess around outside before the bell rang. He went straight to the office. Mrs. Miller took her sweet time looking through his forms, complaining about the beer stains and the messy writing. JJ waited expectantly and then shot her a huge triumphant smirk when she told him she would put him into the system. She had him sit in the hard plastic chair again for old times sake as she looked at his middle school records and placed him in all of the remedial classes (except for Math).

He whooped and accidentally knocked over the plastic chair when she finally gave him his schedule, running out of the office and finding John B. and Pope right as everyone was starting to go to their first period class.

Turns out, he had Science and History and Shop with John B., but they were in different English and Math classes. Apparently, John B. had improved his reading and writing skills based on the placement tests they took at the end of eighth grade and had somehow been placed into the regular English class instead of the remedial one JJ was in. JJ was in a regular math class and John B. was in pre-algebra. JJ had Gym and Art with Pope. Pope groaned, threatening JJ with harm if he painted on him or threw balls at him during gym class. 

He cut JJ off as he opened his mouth to make a joke about balls being thrown at him and turned down a different hallway then them.

It turns out, high school was not much better than middle school. It was still a lot of sitting in a chair, a lot of teachers talking as JJ drowned them out and drew pictures in his notebook and a lot of worksheets being thrown his way. He tried to focus on them, but by the end of his second class, he was already jealous of his yesterday's self who was surfing at this time.

Mrs. Miller had told him in an overly loud voice so everyone in the office heard that his special ed services would probably start next week or the following week. So JJ figured that he could get away with skipping most of his work the first few weeks until he got the help he needed. He wondered if the special ed teacher who worked with him would be as nice as Ms. Meadows. Judging by the adults in this building so far, he doubted it. 

At the end of the day, after trying and failing to get Pope to dip out on Art with him when the teacher was droning on and on about the importance of paint safety, JJ ran out of the school, pushing past other kids to get outside. John B. was already outside, having had Gym last period and walking over to the front of the school from the locker rooms, which were their own building across the field. 

JJ did some parkour (at least in his mind it was parkour) to impress their friends John B. was standing with, but ended up tripping on the cement wall and scraping his knee. Madison helped him up and checked on it, but pushed him away, laughing when he asked if she could kiss it better. 

Pope finally caught up to them and actually had the audacity to claim he needed to do homework when JJ and John B. tried to get him to come on the bus with them to go back to The Chataeu. JJ told him he needed to relax and smoke some dank kush, throwing his balled up Art syllabus at Pope’s head. John B. convinced him to come over by reminding him that Kie was going to be there and that it wouldn’t be the same without him. John B.’s reasoning worked and Pope agreed to come. 

After a fun night of messing around with his friends, JJ had gone home to find his dad with a woman, which had pretty much never happened in his memory. They were clearly high and JJ recognized her from office of the Marina where his dad worked. Luke had told JJ to “give them some privacy” and the woman had giggled stupidly and JJ had never booked it to his room so fast. At three am he was woken up by screaming and things smashing and doors slamming and wondered if he should stay put or escape before his dad remembered he was home.

His heart was beating in his chest and he couldn’t help but get up and put a chair under his door knob for extra security. He wished that he was anywhere but there and wished that his dad could just be normal for once. 

His decision was made for him when it got really quiet and he heard a car screech away. He hoped that was the end of that. And he thought it was bad when it was just him and his dad. He didn’t know if he could handle his dad deciding to adopt a crazy dating life too. 

The next morning, JJ woke up and stuffed his white button up in his backpack with his black pants and the little Kook vest, along with a Hawaiian flower bow tie he had to wear to work. Mama L always got mad at him when he arrived and his shirt was all crumpled, but he had no other options and kind of liked it when she helped him fix it. It was nice to be mothered sometimes. He sure as hell wasn’t going to ride his bike in that getup, so the backpack was his only option.

He quietly made his way out into the living room, hoping to grab some food before riding to the country club for work. He stopped in the doorway, seeing his dad asleep on the couch with a cut on his face and stuff thrown everywhere. JJ snuck through the piles of things on the floor, grabbed a bag full of stale cereal and put it on the counter to take with him, before filling up a glass of water and putting it near his dad. Honestly, as scary as his dad usually was when he was awake, JJ had had more than a few times when he had thought his dad was actually dead on the sofa and usually got him water as an excuse to get close enough to see if he was breathing. 

His dad woke up when he put the glass down, sitting bolt upright and reaching out to shove him away. JJ didn’t know if he knew it was him or if he was just coming off of something when waking up and thought JJ was someone else, but either way, JJ flinched backwards and fell. He crashed down into the corner of the coffee table, knocking over a mostly full can of beer that was laying by the couch and felt it saturate his backpack. 

Luke had yelled at him for waking him up and spilling the beer and slapped JJ when he tried to explain that he had just been checking on him. He had pushed him back down when he tried to get up and JJ had waited until his dad stopped shoving him and slapping him and finally sat down on the couch and put his head in his hands (probably because he had just overexerted himself beating on JJ) before crawling backwards and slowly getting up and running out to his bike. His dad didn’t look up. 

JJ stopped his bike once he was safely on the path by his house and tried to slow his breathing down. He reached up and felt his face and knew he would have a bruise later. He took his backpack off and cussed when he saw that it was sopping wet with beer. He opened it and pulled his white shirt out, angrily kicking the dirt next to his bike when he saw that it was also now stained with beer. 

He straddled his bike while he took deep breaths like Kie had taught him to do when he got worked up about something. He was trying to decide if he should just skip work altogether and go get high on the beach somewhere or if he should go and see if there was someway he could work with a beer stained shirt. 

JJ really needed the job, as much as he hated being near Kooks and picking up their dirty plates full of food, he got part of the tips and finally had money to buy some clothes and things he wanted and he had been saving up for a dirt bike his cousin had and didn’t want anymore. He couldn’t afford to lose his job today and he wasn’t going to let his dad take another thing from him.

He pushed off on the dirt and rode the twenty minutes to the Country Club. He got honked at when he swerved near a car while trying to vape and do a left turn. He could ride with no hands but he couldn’t turn without them. Multi-tasking was crazy.

When he got there, he was disappointed to see that Mama L wasn’t working, he had hoped she would be able to help him with his uniform. He figured she had taken the day off to do something with her grandkids.

Going into the staff bathroom, he switched into his uniform, wrinkling his nose when he realized how bad the damage was. Luckily, most of the brown stain was covered by his vest, but it reeked of beer. He noticed some old perfume someone had left on the sink for everyone for moments like these and he sprayed some, gagging as the grandma smell mixed with the beer. He carried his backpack and stashed it in his secret hiding spot in the supply closet before heading out to the kitchen to check in with Jake, his manager. 

Jake waved him off towards the dining room before he could get too close and told him to go deal with table eight. JJ groaned when he looked over and saw the Thorntons and the Camerons sitting there, looking like they owned the place. The Camerons basically did own the place. Unfortunately, Kook families always felt like they owned the staff. JJ wanted to let them know that it wasn’t 1840 anymore but he knew that wouldn’t go over well. 

Jake just pushed the tray into his hands and told him to hurry up. JJ approached, trying to look at their plates to see who was definitely done. These were the types of people who would finish eating, but complain if you got their plate and complain if you didn’t. 

Luck was not on JJ’s side as he got closer and saw that all five Camerons were there along with Topper and his parents and little sister. 

Rafe smirked evilly at JJ and he knew he should probably just turn around and let Jake know that shit will go down if he is their busboy, but he also knows he is highly replaceable and so he keeps walking, focusing on the adults at the table. He hadn’t seen Rafe up close since that night at the beginning of summer when they got into a fight.

“Can I get any of this out of your way?” He asks, physically forcing his polite tone into his voice and staring at Mrs. Thornton as he spoke. He bit the inside of his cheek when he heard Rafe and Topper laughing at him. He thinks of his dirt bike and feels blood inside his mouth when he bites too hard. 

“All of it. It’s been sitting here for far too long”. Rose answers for the table, waving her hand at all of their plates. Most were still half full and JJ couldn’t help his stomach growling at the sight of pancakes and bacon. He had left his stale cereal at his house when the situation with his dad started. 

JJ nodded and started to go around the table, carefully picking up the plates and piling them onto his tray. He was probably putting more than he should onto it to avoid having to come back for a second trip, but hey, he had to do what he had to do.

“JJ, are Pogues just born with busboy skills or did you get some quality training on the job?” Rafe asked him when he took his plate. The adults were talking to each other again and either didn’t hear or didn’t care about Rafe’s taunt. 

“Shut up, Rafe. You should try getting a job for once.” Sarah surprised JJ by standing up to Rafe. 

He only knew Sarah Cameron from the country club and from Boneyard parties and he knew she was full Kook. But he wasn’t going to turn down some free help. He couldn’t exactly tell Rafe where to shove it while he was at work and Rafe knew it. 

“You’ve never worked a day in your life, Princess” Rafe threw back at Sarah. Sarah shrugged and got up. “I’m going to go swimming.” She said over her shoulder as she walked away. JJ followed behind her with his overly full tray and she turned and waited so she could walk next to him.

“You’re friends with Kiara Carrera, right?” She asked JJ. He stiffened protectively. He had just last night been forced to listen to Kie rant about the Kook Academy and how she didn’t fit in and he didn’t know if he could hold back if she criticized her around him right now.

“Yeah. She’s one of my best friends.” JJ said, struggling with the tray as he reached the kitchen door. 

Sarah stopped when he stopped, grabbing a notepad from the stand outside the kitchen and said, “Tell her to text me. We talked yesterday about saving the baby sea turtles but we didn’t exchange numbers.” Sarah passed him the note with her number on it and smiled over her shoulder as she walked away. 

JJ felt a little protective, but knew Kie needed friends at her school to survive. He just hoped she wouldn’t go full Kook on them if she was hanging out with Princess Sarah. He shoved the paper in his pants pocket and went into the kitchen to drop off the plates. 

He was coming back out through the swinging doors and was about to go around the corner into the dining room to go wait on some more Kooks, when he ran head first into Rafe and Topper and some other Kook in a horrendous bright green getup that they must have recruited on their way over to him. Rafe shoved him and green polo shirt grabbed his arms from behind. JJ struggled a little, but he couldn’t break free.

“Let go of me!” He grunted as he moved around. 

“No. I want to talk to you first. Then you can go back to your serving duties like a good Pogue.” Rafe said, getting into JJ’s face. Topper stood there like the lackey that he was. 

“Aren’t you a little old to be hanging out with fourteen year old’s, Rafe? You can’t get any friends your own age?” JJ taunted him.

Rafe laughed and did a dramatic sniff. “What the fuck? It's like ten am and you reek of shitty beer. I should probably tell your boss about you showing up to work intoxicated, shouldn’t I?” 

JJ forced himself to be quiet. He really needed this job.

“That’s what I thought.” Rafe said as he laughed again. “Where was I? Oh yeah. You never answered my question from before. Are you born knowing how to wait on people or did they have to teach you that?”

JJ put on his best “I don’t care” tone because he knew he couldn’t let Rafe know he bothered him and said, “I don’t know, man. Are you born wearing those ugly ass clothes or did you actually pick those out?”

Rafe was about to answer when Jake came around the corner. He looked at the situation and said politely, “Could you gentlemen please let go of my busboy? He has a job to get back to.”

Green polo shirt let go of JJ immediately, probably scared of getting in trouble with his mommy and daddy. Rafe looked Jake up and down and said, “He can get back to work. See you later, JJ. Keep up the good work.” He reached up to pat him mockingly on the cheek and JJ took a step back towards Jake. If Jake hadn’t been there, he didn’t think he would have been able to stop himself from punching Rafe in his smug face.

“JJ, what the hell, man? I can’t have my employees fighting during their shift. If that ever happens again, I’m going to have to let you go.” Jake said. JJ felt offended. It’s not like he hadn’t just been basically jumped while trying to do his job and had his arms pinned back. 

“Yes, sir. I’ll try not to get cornered again, sir.” He said, giving him a sarcastic salute and pushing past him to the dining room. 

He hated his job. 

It was almost worth the struggle when JJ finally had enough money to buy his dirt bike the following month. 

Nothing could stop him now.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading!


	3. The Best Friends Anyone Could Have

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> JJ and John B. skip class, JJ has a very rough time at home with Luke, Kie helps JJ in a time of need and the Pogues help JJ in a way he will never forget.

By October, the newness of high school had worn off on JJ and John B. and they had started skipping class a few times a week together. JJ would skip only after he got his free lunch and breakfast and he could always count on John B. wanting to skip his math class. John B. hated math. Kie wanted to skip too but was all the way at Kildare Prep and didn’t have an accomplice who knew how to break out yet, so she had to stay at school all day. Pope didn’t even let them finish the suggestion that he would skip class, his head already shaking no before JJ could say the word “skip”. So it was just the two of them.

They would meet behind the school before sneaking against the brick wall along the Science labs, crouched low and squished close together. They totally had their escape routine down in JJ’s opinion. Then, they would crawl along the edge of the handicapped ramp until they got to the heavy foliage on the side of the bus loop and from there, they were home free. Well, not home free, because neither could exactly go home after skipping class, but they were free. 

Things at home had deteriorated rapidly for JJ in the past month, which was saying a lot. While at the beginning of ninth grade, Luke had been mostly spending his nights and weekends in a goofy kind of high, lately he had been in a foul and dangerous mood almost every day. He was sober more and JJ didn’t know if it was by choice or what, but somehow it was making it worse for him. He still went to his job at the marina everyday and he was getting a steady paycheck, but he had started doing some cruel things, like buying food just for himself or buying himself new shoes when he knew that JJ’s sneakers were falling apart from the soles. Like leaving twenty dollar bills out on the counter, almost as if he was daring JJ to take them.

JJ knew his dad had the money and was making a point to JJ by not spending it on him on purpose. His dad was usually meaner when he was sober or just drunk and growing up with an alcoholic/drug addicted father had taught JJ that no mood or situation was ever permanent. He knew Luke would eventually go back to popping pills or snorting coke and would go back to semi-providing for JJ again. He just had to be patient and wait out his new temperament. 

Growing up, they had almost always had food, even though he's sure a lot of people wouldn't believe that. While his dad (and mom, when she was there) wasn’t rich, he hated being hungry and always made sure there was food in the fridge, even if it was usually mostly junk food. If there wasn’t, it was typically only for a day before he would go and buy some more. That didn’t mean JJ could eat however much and whenever he wanted, but JJ knew his limits pretty quickly as a kid. He had still gotten the free lunch and breakfast at school for as long as he could remember. He just couldn’t say he was hungry growing up. At least not for food.

This situation of Luke not providing food for him was new and he honestly was running out of options because he was having to spend his paychecks on gas for his dirt bike,food, weed and now apparently he could add shoes and clothes to that list. So he had to prioritize what came first. His dirt bike was crucial, he had to be able to escape and go where he wanted and get to work. He would literally die if he couldn’t smoke weed so that was critical too. He needed food to even function,and a lot of it because he was a growing teenager, but he got some from school and he took what he could when at John B.’s or the Wreck. Sometimes Mama L would pack him leftovers that he could take him. 

His clothes were okay for now but he knew he would have to buy new ones for the winter if his dad didn’t snap out of it soon since it wasn’t summer anymore. It's not like his dad took him shopping, but he usually would give him a couple twenties twice a year to go buy some secondhand clothes or go take the ferry to the Walmart. 

After JJ had snapped at John B. out of hunger on the bus to school three days in a row, he had demanded to know what was up. JJ had told John B. just enough about the current situation at home for him to understand his moods and bring him some extra cereal bars from home in the morning. It was unspoken that he was welcome to any food at The Chateau when he was over. 

JJ couldn’t exactly borrow John B.’s clothes too often since they were very recognizable with their bright and crazy patterns. John B. was nice about it, but it was awkward for both of them to show up to school like that. JJ knew he needed to spend some of his next paycheck on clothes.

But for now, JJ was having the time of his life as he and John B. skipped class. They straightened up, running across the road to the woods and letting out exhilarated whoops. Unluckily for them, Mrs. Miller was pulling off of the main road back into the parking lot from her lunch break at the same time that John B. and JJ were booking it across. She honked at them before yelling something out her window. 

JJ made a probably over exaggerated terrified look over his shoulder towards her car and John B. cracked up, pulling him into the woods. But JJ had only been exaggerating a little. John B. didn’t have to get beaten up if his dad was called so he didn’t really understand. JJ went along with it and kept laughing, jumping onto John B.’s back for a second before he was pushed off. 

“Did you see her face? She is definitely going to talk about that to the other office ladies for at least an hour. Highlight of her day is that she caught us dipping. She's like totally obsessed with me.” he said, laughing when John B. started to do his terrible impersonation of her.

They walked for twenty minutes before they got to the isolated bunch of trees by their favorite surf spot where they had hidden their boards earlier in the day. It had gotten to the point where they both wore board shorts a few times a week when they were planning on skipping and if any teachers cared enough to pay attention, they would actually be so easy to catch. 

JJ won five bucks when John B. was stupid enough to bet that he couldn’t do a roundhouse cutback before he could. It went into the JJ fund that he kept at John B.’s house. John B. thought he was saving up for a new board, but in reality it was just for daily necessities. 

They stopped at the Seven Eleven near Heyward's on their way home and when John B. wasn’t looking, JJ snuck a travel sized tube of toothpaste and two protein bars into his pockets. He picked up some chips and smirked when John B. handed over his five dollars. JJ’s rule for stealing was that he always actually bought something. He stole seventy-five percent of what he took from the store and bought twenty-five percent. He bought the chips and saved the change for his jar he kept at John B.’s. 

He always got an adrenaline rush when he stole. He didn’t know what part appealed to him the most, but he knew he liked feeling like he got something for himself on his own. John B. didn’t understand. He didn’t know what it was like to only have deodorant or toothpaste or snacks if you stole them. 

JJ was heading home with John B. without thinking, hoping to have dinner there. Big John had been gone for the past week and JJ had taken full advantage, staying over for the past three nights and enjoying having food in the cupboards. Unlike Luke, Big John actually left money on the table for John B. to use, not just to taunt him with. 

JJ barely held in a groan when he saw Big John’s car in the driveway and the lights on in The Chateau. He would definitely have to go home tonight. Big John didn’t care too much when JJ stayed over, but doing it repeatedly would raise some red flags that he didn’t feel like explaining.

John B. was excited and started to jog ahead to see his dad. JJ knew he got lonely when his dad left, even if he didn’t understand it. He wished his dad would go on a week-long work trip. He called out to John B. and went over to his bike. 

“I’m gonna head home, dude. I’ll see you tomorrow. Tell your dad I say hi”. JJ said as he swung his leg over and sat down. 

“What? Come on in, JJ. At least have dinner and then go home.” John B. said, frozen halfway up the porch steps. He did the “come on” gesture with his hands. 

JJ was so tempted to agree and stay for dinner because he was pretty sure he wasn’t going to be getting it at home, but he honestly got tired sometimes of intruding on John B. and Big John’s time together. Not only did it make him feel jealous even though he tried not to, but he had his nutrition bars in his pocket to tide him over until school in the morning. 

“Nah, man. I need to go home, I haven’t been there in like three days. I need to check if my dad is alive.” He tried to joke, but John B. looked at him hard for a second before saying “Okay well I’ll see you tomorrow. And just so you know. That was the last and only time you will do a roundhouse cutback before me, so enjoy your money.”

“Keep dreaming, John B.” JJ called over his shoulder as he rode down the driveway.

JJ briefly debated over whether he should try to see what Pope or Kiara were up to before remembering that they were probably also having dinner with their families like John B. was. He did pull over in the woods by his house and smoke a blunt. He wasn’t going to face his sober dad, sober. The irony almost killed him.

Fifteen minutes later, JJ slowly went up his front steps and into his house. His dad was coming in from the back porch at the same time as him with oil on his hands. He must have been fixing that motor he had been working on as a side job. He glared at JJ and it was so mean and so cold that JJ almost turned and ran back out of the door. He stayed partly because he was scared his dad would chase him and partly because he knew it would be worse when he did come back if he ran. Also, he didn’t want to look like a pussy. 

“Where the fuck have you been this week, huh?” Luke asked, walking over to the sink to wash his hands. His dad was always changing his expectations for JJ, it was impossible to keep up. Most of the time, he didn’t care where JJ was and when JJ told him, he would tell him he didn’t give a fuck. Other times, he would demand to know where he was, acting like he was supposed to ask for permission to go out with his friends. 

“I was staying at John B.’s.” JJ says, staying far back when Luke finishes washing his hands and turns back to him. He walks over closer and JJ subconsciously takes a step back. 

Luke notices and laughs, a short, mean laugh. “Look at you actin’ all scared. I thought you were a big man now, since you think you can stay out for three days at a time.”

JJ didn’t say anything back, looking between the floor and the back of the chair he was standing near.

Luke walked over to the couch and sat down. “Come here.” he ordered. JJ took a few halting steps closer and was glad when his dad didn’t make him take more. Luke pushed the button on the answering machine next to the sofa and put his feet up on the coffee table, watching JJ as the first message played. 

“Hi JJ, baby, it’s Mimi. I haven’t heard from you and wanted to-” Luke reached over and pressed delete. 

“Stupid bitch. Always calling you. If she cares so much she can come and get you and take you off my hands. It’s not like she’s really your grandma anyways, since your mama doesn’t want you. It doesn't even count.”

JJ bit the inside of his cheek, twisting his mouth and looking at the rug. He knew Luke was trying to get him to say something back but he knew how that would end up and stayed quiet. Luke knew JJ hated to hear him talk about his grandma that way, especially since she was his only connection to his mom. JJ made a mental note to call Mimi from John B.’s tomorrow. 

Luke did a mean smile as he saw JJ struggling to stay quiet. He picked up a bright blue envelope from the coffee table and held it up for JJ to see. He saw Mimi’s handwriting and the stickers she put on her letters. He wondered when that had arrived. Mimi didn't usually write him letters too.

“Here, come get your letter. If you're going to have her calling you and writing you, you at least owe her an answer. I mean, she's so worried about her "baby".” 

JJ cursed himself for not calling Mimi back two weeks ago when she first called. She got worried when she didn’t hear from him every month and with his dad acting the way he had and him being so busy doing crazy shit with his friends, he had forgotten. 

He knew what was going to happen when he went over and got the letter. He also knew that he couldn’t refuse to get it. 

“What? You don’t want it? I forgot you can’t really read for shit. You want me to read it out loud for you?” Luke laughed at him, shaking the envelope at him. 

“I can read, Dad. I’ll call Mimi and tell her not to leave messages if that’s what you want.” JJ said, looking at his dad and trying to sound like he wasn’t scared shitless. 

Luke just shook the envelope again and held it out to him, eyebrows raised. JJ had no choice but to step forward and take it.

As soon as he got within arms reach of his dad, Luke grabbed his arm and threw him down onto the couch, getting on top of him and punching his face rapidly. JJ threw his arms up to protect his face and yelled out for his dad to stop, which never worked but he couldn’t help but pray that it might. His dad was yelling at him about his mom and his grandma and how no one wanted him. JJ didn’t hear the full insults since he was in full flight mode, trying to get away. His ears were ringing and blood was rushing to his head. His dad stopped after about thirty seconds and got up and grabbed his keys. 

He stopped on his way out the door and told JJ to clean the shit up that had dropped when he was trying to get away from his dad. He didn’t wait for an answer before he left. 

JJ broke down crying once he was in the bathroom. No matter how many times this happened, it never hurt less. In fact, he felt like it hurt more as he got older. He wondered if he’d ever get up the courage to fight back.

He knew he would have bruises all down the left side of his face by the morning. He decided to skip school for tomorrow and have some JJ time at the beach. Tried to make it seem like a choice.

His dad came back two hours later with some cokes and McDonalds for both of them. JJ felt sick as he ate it. His dad talked about work as if he hadn’t bashed JJ’s face in two hours ago and as if he hadn’t been keeping food away from him on purpose for the past three weeks. It was about as close to an apology as Luke ever came. 

____________________________________________________________________________

The next day, JJ was back at the Seven Eleven in the afternoon, stealing some more shit, mostly just for the sake of it. He didn’t have that much of an appetite today, despite missing school and the meals that came with it. He was stuffing his pockets when he heard Kie’s voice from the next aisle. She was helping an older man find his favorite kind of chips. Typical Kiara.

JJ had just finished shoving a Snickers bar into his right pocket when Kie turned into his aisle. She stopped and gave him her “really, JJ?” face. He smiled at her innocently. “Just looking, Kie. Window shopping never hurt anybody.” He held up his hands to show her they were empty. 

“Give me the shit in your pockets, JJ.” Kie said, holding her hand out for it.

“What stuff?”

“Cut the shit.” Kie wasn’t backing down. JJ sighed and pulled out the Snickers and some other random stuff he had taken just for the sake of it. “Yes, ma’am.”

Instead of putting it back on the shelves like she usually did, Kie walked over to the cashier and bought all of JJ’s stuff and what she had been holding. 

JJ followed her out the store with his hands in his pockets. “You didn’t have to do that Kie, but I won’t say no to a sugar mama”. 

Kie rolled her eyes, but she was smiling. She pushed his stuff at him and said, “Here, take it. I don’t even want to know what you want with a women’s razor.”

JJ laughed when he saw that he had grabbed the Venus razor he always saw commercials for. He had just been stealing for the sake of it and hadn’t even noticed. 

“Don’t you worry your pretty little head about it, Kie.”

Kie looked at his face closer and he knew she was noticing the bruises. “Shit, JJ, what happened?” she asked, gesturing to the part of her face where JJ’s bruises were.

“Just a fight with some Kooks. Nothing I couldn’t handle.” JJ said, trying to keep his voice casual. As if every time one of his friends asked, he didn’t relive the moment again. 

“Which ones?” she asked.

“What?” JJ asked, frantically trying to recall some Kook names in his head. Usually his friends just accepted that answer, even though they always looked at each other when he said that. Like they thought they could imagine what had happened and what it had been like for him at home.

“Which Kooks? Because I know for a fact that you were at home last night. John B. told us when we were texting in the group chat. And I was at Sarah’s house last night and Rafe and his douchebag friends were upstairs the whole night. And we don't really fight any other Kooks.” Kiara had her hand on her hip now, one eyebrow raised. 

“You don’t know them.” JJ said, giving up on trying to think of a Kook name. Kie had him cornered. 

“JJ….”

“Don’t Kie. It’s worse if I talk about it.” JJ admitted, trying to start walking with Kie so they weren’t face to face. He couldn’t stand the worried look she was shooting at him.

Kie bit her lip before shaking her head and walking with JJ. He knew the other Pogues talked about his dad and what he did to JJ. Not often, but he knew they did. John B. was the only reason that Pope and Kie hadn’t called the cops to report it. He had explained that JJ's only other option was foster care away from Kildare. 

Kie clearly wasn’t happy leaving it, but said, “Fine. But if you won’t talk to me, we are going to the beach to eat these snacks and smoke. I haven’t seen you all week.”

JJ smiled at her. This is part of why he loved Kie. She knew what he needed and she was always down to smoke and eat. 

“You have weed, right?” Kie asked.

“Always.” JJ said, reaching back and patting his backpack. 

____________________________________________________________________________

“I’m going to die if you keep me at this table for another second, I swear, Pope.” JJ said, as he ran his hands through his hair and stood up. 

“Sit down, JJ. We literally have one more question to answer and then you can go do whatever the fuck you want.” Pope sighed from where he sat on top of the counter, holding a copy of “Of Mice and Men”. 

They were crammed into the back room of Heyward’s store and Pope had been reading aloud to JJ for the past hour. They had been taking frequent breaks and even Pope was about to die. 

JJ refused to sit down for the last question and drew the last picture for his organizer standing up. He wrote a sentence and read it back without much help and Pope smiled at him proudly. 

“Thank fuck! Precious, precious freedom, here I come.” JJ said as he threw his binder back into his backpack. Pope jumped off the counter at the exact same time JJ took a step towards the door and he came down hard on JJ’s foot. 

“Fuck, Pope! For a skinny guy, you sure aren’t light.” JJ cussed and looked down at his crushed toe. 

“JJ, you need new shoes man, those things are literally falling apart.” Pope said.

“I’ll get some soon. I just need to wait till my next paycheck.” JJ said, trying to massage his toe through the shoe.

“Why don’t you just tell your dad you need new shoes?” Pope asked, looking at JJ like he was stupid.

JJ felt some anger pulse through his body. As if it was that easy for JJ. The thought of asking his dad for anything was terrifying, but especially after what had happened the other day. And the fact that his dad was probably waiting for him to ask to rub it in his face and then refuse.

“We don’t all have dads like yours, Pope.” JJ said back rolling his eyes and walking out of the back room. 

He looked back when he didn’t hear Pope following him. “Pope, come on man. It’s fine. Seriously. I’m walking perfectly and everything. It’s not a big deal.”

Pope was good at handling these situations with JJ. They had become closer friends over the years from his tutoring sessions and he knew when he could push and when to stop before JJ shut down. He hated that he had a dad like Luke, but didn’t really know what he could do to help.

“Alright, what do you want to do now that you’re free? And it better not start with an "s” I will actually die if I don't eat before surfing" . He said as he followed JJ outside. 

_______________________________________________________________________

A few days later, JJ ran up the steps to The Chateau. He and the Pogues were planning on going out fishing on the boat and he was so there for it.  
JJ walked into the house and wasn’t surprised when he saw that John B., Kie and Pope were there already. That’s what happened when you were the only friend still without a cellphone. 

“You guys ready to go? I bet I catch the biggest fish.” JJ said as he walked in. 

They all confirmed that they were ready and that no, JJ was not going to catch the biggest fish. John B. and Pope grabbed their stuff and started to head outside, going mysteriously quickly. JJ went to follow them but Kie grabbed his arm gently. 

“Don’t get mad, JJ….”

“Oh my god, what is it, Kie? Why did John B. and Pope just book it out of here? What did I do?” JJ asked, craning around her to see out the window. He saw John. B. and Pope loading the rods onto the boat. He needed to get out there before one of them claimed JJ’s lucky rod. 

“Please don’t be mad…” Kie said again as she pulled JJ over to the kitchen. On the table were two pairs of new shoes. One pair of winter boots and one new pair of the sneakers that JJ loved. “We all decided to chip in and get you some new shoes. You deserve them JJ, no matter what your dad tells you. Please accept them as a JJ appreciation gift. Actually, I can tell you right now, you don’t have a choice. You will accept them and you will love them. If not I’ll-”

JJ cut Kie off by hugging her. He took the time when she couldn't see his face to wipe a tear that had fallen. “Thank you Kie” he said as he squeezed her tight. 

“It’s no problem, JJ. It’s from all of us by the way. So you have to hug John B. and Pope too. Now get off me before this breaks our rule.” Kie said, gently pulling away.

“I will gladly hug them like that. You think I won’t. And there’s already enough sexual tension there, Kie. Just give into it and mack on me already.” JJ said as he pulled on his new sneakers. 

“In your dreams, JJ.”


	4. Wrap It in Foil Before You Check the Oil

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> JJ, John B. and Pope have health class and have to do a presentation on a very terrifying STD. Kie begins to slowly go full Kook and Heyward catches JJ stealing from his store.

Hands down, the most awkward, hilarious, wild and embarrassing part of both high school and middle school was health class. 

Health class wasn’t a weekly class, which was probably a good thing because JJ had way too much fun in it. He thought it was illegal to have fun in class until he had his first health class. They had health twice a month during the school year and it was taught to them by the guidance counselor because their district didn’t have enough funding to actually get a real health teacher. She couldn’t always show up, but when she did, it was guaranteed to be an eye-opening and wild learning experience. At least JJ thought so. He refused to even entertain the idea of skipping with John B. when it was a health day, even though that was probably the one time Pope would agree to ditch.

It was also the one class that JJ, John B. and Pope all had together. Pope had immediately threatened John B. and JJ with bodily harm if they did anything embarrassing when they were assigned to the same cluster. He had witnessed them in seventh grade health class and couldn’t get the memories out of his head. 

JJ really looked forward to health class. He learned so many useful things. He felt stupid at first when he had talked about what they had learned with John B. and Pope, who had said they already knew all about that from their dads. But there were also a lot of topics in health class that JJ was an expert on and John B. and Pope knew nothing about, like drugs. Between both his parents, they had taken most of them. 

The guidance counselor, Mrs. Cooper, always answered all of their questions and she usually let JJ and John B. help her with her demonstrations, recognizing their need to be active. Last month they had all taken turns using her drunk goggles, and JJ had been the only one in the class who could walk in a straight line with them over his eyes. 

Justin Taylor had called out that he was cheating and he just said “I was born with the skill, bro” while shrugging. Mrs. Cooper told him not to joke about that and patted his shoulder for him to sit back down. JJ wasn’t sure that he had been joking. 

When he was in middle school, health class had been where he had learned that his dad was an alcoholic. He hadn’t even known there was a name for what his dad did or that it was a disease. When the school gave them pamphlets on the effects of alcoholism on your body with the National Helpline, JJ had naively left it out on their counter, thinking that maybe his dad just didn’t know he had a disease and that if he knew, he would get help. It didn’t even last one full day on the counter before he saw it in the trash. 

Today when they got to health class, they all cheered when Mrs. Cooper came in and told them that they were going to watch a movie. The cheers had turned to groans and some noises of fear (mostly from Pope and some of the girls) when she said it was a movie on sexually transmitted diseases.

JJ wasn’t sure what everyone was complaining about, especially Pope. The guy wanted to cut up dead bodies when he grew up! JJ usually liked looking at the scary health pictures and watching his classmates freak out. He didn’t think this would be any different. He also liked learning about this kind of stuff and using it against Pope later.

JJ already knew all about how to prevent STD’s. Heyward of all people had actually given the three of them, plus a very terrified Kie, an impromptu lecture after he had witnessed JJ’s attempt at flirting last year. JJ’s “girlfriend” of two weeks had come into the store with her younger sister while The Pogues were waiting for Pope to finish up. Heyward had watched JJ and her together with one eyebrow up and his mouth hanging open before dragging them all over to the family planning section when she left and giving them a very informative and detailed information session.

Luke had also mentioned safe sex in passing, but it was less as a caring parent and more as a “don’t make the same mistake as I did” type of line as he bought condoms. Heyward’s lecture hadn’t made JJ feel like total shit after, so that was the one he tried to keep in his memory.

By the end of the movie, JJ had almost been forced to change his opinion about health class. Not only had Mrs. Cooper made them watch some truly horrifying sections about STD’s that went into parts of the body that JJ wasn’t even sure existed, but she had also “forgotten” to mention that the video featured a live and up close childbirth. 

John B. got in trouble for making puking noises throughout the video and Pope was covering his view by propping his folder upright on his desk like a tent. JJ couldn’t tear his eyes away as much as he wanted to.

Mrs. Cooper flicked the lights back on and threw them all back into the sterile brightness of the classroom, as if they didn’t need time to just sit with their thoughts and recover first. 

“Wow, Mrs. Cooper, that was nucking futs." JJ called from his seat, trying to act less traumatized than he was. She told him she appreciated him keeping his language appropriate for school and his enthusiasm. 

JJ almost thought he could bounce back and fully forgive her when she declared that they would be working in groups of three to present to their classmates about a different STD and that they could pick their own groups. He smirked at Pope and Pope groaned. He was looking forward to freaking Pope out. 

Mrs. Cooper was very fair so she had each group pick which STD they would present from her sparkly box she carried around on her cart for situations like this. John B. gagged when he picked the paper that said “Genital warts” and Pope threw his head down onto his desk dramatically. JJ laughed at them and said they got the best one, but he secretly agreed with John B.

________________________________________________________________________

Kiara met them all after school at The Chateau since it was a Friday. She thought it was hilarious that John B. and Pope were so traumatized from the video and even more funny when she let them know that boys could get genital warts too. Big John confirmed as he walked by them. JJ laughed and told them to just make sure they covered their tools before they fooled and they would be fine. Kiara added that they all needed to get consent before any tools were being covered. JJ agreed and she smiled at him. 

They were all deciding what to do for the night when JJ first realized that they might be slowly losing Kie to the Kook side. 

There was a party at The Boneyard tomorrow night so Pope was arguing that they should take it easy. JJ was trying to convince them to go to this recently abandoned warehouse along the border of The Cut and Figure Eight that was rumored to be haunted. John B. was up for it so they easily overruled Pope, but when they all looked over at Kie, she was on her phone and didn't answer. 

“Kie? Earth to Kie? Are you ready to go get your soul scared out of you?” JJ asked, walking over and waving a hand over her face. 

“What?” She asked, finally tearing her eyes away from her phone and looking up at them like she had forgotten they were there. 

“We’re going to go see if that lumber warehouse on Wharf Road is haunted like everyone has been saying. You’re in, right?” He replied, looking at her weirdly when she didn’t smile or roll her eyes.

“I actually told Sarah I would hang out tonight. We were gonna have a girl’s night.” Kie said, but she quickly added on when she saw their confused faces, “But I’ll see you guys tomorrow after my shift at The Wreck when we go to The Boneyard!”

“Girl’s night? I’ve never heard you speak those words before, Kie” JJ said as he slumped back down to sit on the arm of John B.’s chair. He pulled out his lighter and flicked it open and closed rapidly.

“Just because I can’t do full on girl things with you guys, doesn’t mean I’m not a girl, JJ.” Kie said back. “Of course I have girl’s nights.”

“Believe me, I know you’re a girl, Kie. And I respect that. I just didn’t think I would actually see the day where you would choose to get a manicure and put vegetables over your eyes instead of finding ghosts with us.” JJ said, but he was smirking so she knew he wasn’t serious.

Kie opened her mouth to reply but Pope cut her off, “Go have fun, Kie. We’re glad you made friends with Sarah. We know how hard it’s been for you at Kildare Prep. And cucumbers are fruit, JJ. Everyone knows that.” Kie smiled at Pope and stood up, putting her phone in her pocket and grabbing her backpack. 

“Thanks, Pope. I mean, feel free to come with me JJ. Your hair is long enough that I bet Sarah could braid it if you want. John B., you want a manicure?” She laughed when they both looked at her like she had asked them to give up surfing forever. JJ subconsciously reached a hand up to protect his hair.

“Bye boys!” Kie yelled over her shoulder as she left. They could hear her still cackling from the porch. 

“She’s going full Kook.” John B. said what they all had been worrying about. “Come on, her Instagram story is full of Sarah and her doing Kook things and she's started to ditch us more.”

JJ didn’t know since he didn’t have a phone but he did know that she had been around less and less. It wasn’t as noticeable as it would have been if it was summer, since they already went to different schools and were all busy with work for part of their weekends. But still. She had missed more than a few surf sessions and hangouts lately. 

“She’s allowed to have other friends, you dumbasses. Seriously, did you think she was going to only speak to us forever and have no actual girlfriends?” Pope asked them. He was good at seeing situations from different points of view. “And you know what I mean, JJ.” He said when JJ opened his mouth to make a joke about Kie and Sarah dating each other and how hot that would be. 

JJ and John B. agreed that she needed friends there and were happy she did. JJ just wished they didn’t have to be the Kookiest of Kooks. Especially since he knew Kie was bound to be near Rafe, being friends with his sister and spending time at his house. 

____________________________________________________________________________

“And that is how you avoid getting genital warts, ladies and gentleman! And remember, ‘Wrap it in foil, before you check her oil’! Feel free to borrow that, Mrs. Cooper. Saw it on a box of condoms so it’s legit.” JJ smiled over at her as he finished the last part of his, John B. and Pope’s presentation on genital warts. 

“Love it. That’s a really good catchphrase, JJ! Good job, boys!” Mrs. Cooper clapped from where she was perched on top of John B.’s desk. 

JJ beamed at her, proud of their hard work. John B. had even done a short rap about protecting your erection that he had helped co-create.

John B. and JJ bowed while Pope practically ran back to his seat, face red, and sunk deep down in his chair with his arms crossed.

“You’re welcome for the A, bro. A thank you for all of the help with tutoring over the years.” JJ whispered to Pope loudly as he stopped by his desk on the way to his own seat. 

Pope refused to look at him, but JJ figured he was appreciative. Pope loved getting A’s. 

Later that day, Pope and JJ were at Heyward’s. Pope was finishing up his shift and Heyward had agreed to let him go to the beach with JJ and John B. when he was done, since he had finished his homework early this week and had no tests. John B. was going to meet them there, so it was JJ’s job to ”collect” Pope and make sure he actually came.

Pope was crouched on the floor stocking a shelf and JJ was leaning against a nearby shelf, talking about some modifications he was planning on making to his dirt bike. Without really thinking about it, JJ took a small pack of batteries off the shelf and put them in his pocket while he talked. Pope wasn’t looking and he figured he wouldn’t care. He needed them for their tv remote at home and he knew it might make his dad happy if he showed up with them.

“What in the hell?” JJ spun around and saw Heyward standing behind him, eyebrows furrowed. 

Pope looked up, thinking his dad was talking to him. When he saw he was talking to JJ and that JJ was acting nervous, he stood up and went by JJ’s side. Heyward took a step toward JJ and JJ flinched back, harder than he would have liked to. He couldn’t help it. Heyward stopped walked toward JJ immediately.

“What made you do that?” Heyward asked JJ.

JJ was looking near Heyward’s feet, eyes moving back and forth rapidly as he tried to think of a good reason. His heart rate was up and he decided to tell most of the truth since it wasn’t too bad.

“I’m sorry, I didn’t want to, I swear. I was gonna pay for them! It’s just, my dad has been really upset this week cause we haven’t had any batteries and he told me to get some. But I don’t get paid till Saturday. But I swear, I was going to bring the money back then. I didn’t think you’d care.” JJ said, looking at Heyward and trying to look ashamed.

He left out the part that the batteries were going to be a peace offering to hopefully get Luke to leave JJ alone tonight. He had been all over him this week and he needed one night of peace.

Heyward was looking at JJ like he was a puzzle that needed to be figured out. JJ didn’t like it. “I’m sorry.” he said again, looking down at the floor and putting the batteries back on the shelf. He was debating over whether or not to pull out the fake tears. Those usually worked for him in situations like these. He didn’t think they would work on Heyward though. 

“Come with me, JJ.” Heyward said to him before turning and walking into his back room. 

“Your dad is going to murder me, Pope!” JJ turned back to Pope, waving his hands frantically to imitate what Heyward might do to him.

“Just go, JJ. He’s not gonna murder you. But you’ve got to stop stealing shit. This is what happens.” Pope said, shaking his head and crouching back down to finish stocking the shelf. 

JJ opened his mouth to defend himself, but Pope cut him off. “JJ, it’s fine. He’s just going to lecture you. Hurry up so we can go surfing.”

JJ closed his mouth and bit the inside of his cheek, turning and dragging his feet as he walked to the back room. Heyward was sitting down at the table where JJ and Pope sometimes did their tutoring session. He pointed to the other chair and JJ sat in it, stiffly, ready to bolt if he had to.

“You need money, JJ?” Heyward asked him.

JJ shook his head as an instinct. “No, sir. My dad has money, he just forgot to give me it. And I get paid on Saturday. I’m sorry.”

Heyward’s eyes were narrowed, not in a mean way, but like he was analyzing JJ. JJ didn’t like it anymore than he had three minutes ago. 

“Where is your dad working?’ Heyward asked him.

JJ was happy to be able to answer a question without having to think first. “He’s been working at the Marina on Flowers Road.” He didn’t offer more information.

“Does he like it?” Heyward asked. JJ didn’t know why he cared or what this had to do with the batteries. 

JJ shrugged because he didn’t know if his dad liked anything.

“If I call him and tell him you were trying to steal batteries, you think he would be happy?” Heyward asked, raising his eyebrows at him.

JJ hated it when adults asked him questions like this because his answer was usually yes, but he had to pretend that is was no. Luke would be mad that JJ was caught and that he had to hear from Heyward, not that JJ had been stealing. He basically encouraged him to steal when he would tell him to get something and not give him money.

“No sir.” JJ said, looking at the table. He was close to pulling out the fake tears if Heyward actually went to get the phone. 

“Does your dad ever hit you? When he’s upset?” Heyward asked and his voice was quieter, so no one would hear. 

No one had ever really asked JJ that before except his grandma and even she had only asked once. He figured she knew the truth and couldn’t do anything about it. His friends had hinted at it and he said enough to them so that they knew his dad hurt him sometimes, but he had never had an adult like Heyward stare at him directly in the face and ask him that. 

He thought about telling Heyward the truth and showing him the bruise he had on his stomach from two nights ago. He only thought about that for a second before remembering what would happen if he did. He would not survive if he had to go to foster care.

“Hit me? My dad has never hit me, he just yells. A lot. This isn’t a soap opera, Heyward.” JJ said, rolling his eyes. 

Heyward is still staring at him, hard. JJ decided he needed to ramp it up and distract him from the issue. “Hey, is it cool if I borrow Pope tomorrow too? I have some homework he was going to help me with.” JJ was usually good at distracting Heyward enough to get what he wanted. 

“Hell no, you little bastard. Pope has a shift all day. Do your own damn homework.” Heyward said, but he sounded more relaxed. 

“Worth a try.” JJ shrugged, standing up. He knew that he had successfully changed the subject when Heyward let him.

“JJ? You need something, anything, I want you to come to me next time and let me know. I’m more than happy to help you or your dad if you need it. But you try to steal again and I’m going to have you working here for free for a year.”

“Isn’t that indentured servitude?” JJ asked.

“It’s called free labor and I’m not afraid to make it a reality. Do you understand?” Heyward said, getting up and walking past JJ to the door. JJ couldn’t help but flinch back a little. Heyward noticed. 

“I’m serious. If you need anything at all, even if you just want to talk, come to me anytime.” Heyward said again.

“I never thought I would see the day where you would ask me to talk to you. You’re always kicking me out for talking too much.” JJ joked, trying to steer Heyward off of the serious talk again.

“Get out of here before I change my mind and make you stack shelves with Pope.” Heyward said, but JJ knew he was joking. 

They walked together back to where Pope was and Heyward told him to go have fun. When Pope went to go change into his board shorts, Heyward grabbed the pack of batteries and gave them to JJ. 

“Take them. I mean what I said. And I’m charging you double if there is a next time.” Heyward said as JJ put them in his pocket. 

“Charge me triple, Heyward, because it won’t happen again!” JJ called as he ran to go with Pope.

“And come to dinner at our house next Saturday!” Heyward yelled after him.

JJ waved a hand over his shoulder so Heyward knew he heard him. He couldn’t help but smile when Heyward couldn’t see. It felt good to have a dad care about him, even if it wasn’t his own.


	5. The Brief Falling Out of John B. and JJ

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> John B. has been moody ever since his dad started going away for longer periods of time. Unfortunately, JJ bears the brunt of his anger and it causes him to have a very bad day.

Sometimes, Big John would go away for just a few days and sometimes, especially lately, he would go away for a whole week or a week and a half. As John B. got older, he seemed to spend more time in his office or on the road. JJ didn’t really know what he was doing in there or when he left and didn’t spend too much time thinking about it. All he knew was that the absences were getting longer and closer together and that it made John B. deal with his sad feels in unhealthy ways. And JJ was the last one to talk about unhealthy coping mechanisms. 

JJ had decided in November that he hated high school. He knew that was a record for him, he usually re-decided that he hated school in the first week. He had honestly given it a chance to prove itself, but between the teachers who couldn’t care less (with the exception of Mrs. Cooper), the work he struggled with and his lack of Ritalin to help him deal with it, he was more than happy to spend his days skipping. 

When Big John was out of town, John B.’s behavior became much more similar to JJ’s. JJ wasn’t complaining, but when he made his observation known to John B., John B. had told him to shut up and had grabbed his blunt from him. Which kind of proved his point. John B. was a lot moodier and he was starting to start fights with him and Pope (and Kie, on the rare occasion she was around), which he never used to do.

JJ tried to shrug his bad moods off and enjoy the other parts of John B.’s change in mood. JJ was always down for a good time, he loved ditching school and smoking weed and drinking stolen beers anytime, day or night. But he couldn’t help but feel a little concerned when he noticed that John B. didn’t seem to be doing it because he enjoyed it, but more because he was trying to make himself feel better. It hit a little too close to home, as much as JJ tried to pretend otherwise.

JJ stayed over at The Chateau with John B. as much as he could when Big John was gone to keep him company and to avoid spending time at home for as long as possible. Luke had stopped whatever strange sober mean streak he had been on and had started to do cocaine with a frequency JJ hadn't seen from him before. It made him much more erratic, he had rapid mood swings and JJ just preferred to stay far away. Like across The Cut far away.

One Friday in November, JJ woke up to John B. pushing him over to check under the mattress of the pullout he had been happily sleeping on. He pushed John B. away and tried to cover his face with his pillow, but was surprised when John B. kept pushing him until he could check under more of the mattress. 

“Dude. I love you, but if you don’t fuck off right now and let me finish my beauty sleep, I’m going to personally kill you slowly and feed you to the roosters. What the fuck are you looking for?” JJ groaned out from under his pillow.

“Shut up, JJ. Where the fuck did you hide the weed? I paid for half and I want to smoke.” John B. snapped back at him and his tone was so mean that JJ removed the pillow from his face and sat up onto his elbows. 

“Relax, bro. We smoked it last night, remember? You had a lot and then you fell asleep after chasing Pope around the yard when he wouldn’t let you practice your face painting skills on him. Remember?” Which reminded JJ. He needed to make sure he washed off the rest of the Frankenstein face paint he had let John B. paint on him last night. John B. had let it go to his head since he had gotten a lot of compliments at Madison’s Halloween party when he had painted his, JJ and Pope’s faces as zombie brothers. 

John B. didn’t answer and left the room to go into the kitchen. JJ took that as a sign to keep sleeping before they had to actually wake up to catch the bus. He smiled when he remembered it was a health class day.

When he got up and got dressed for school, John B. was nowhere to be found. He poured a handful of stale cereal into his hand and went into John B.’s room to see if he was ready. John B. was asleep face down on his bed. 

“John B.! What the hell, man? You wake me up at the crack of dawn and now you are going to make us miss school? Get up!” JJ walked over and pushed John B.’s shoulder. If they didn’t leave soon, they would miss the bus. And he could just tell that John B. wouldn’t do the thirty minute walk to school if that happened.

John B. didn’t answer so JJ shoved his shoulder some more. “John B., get up. Seriously, dude. I don’t know how many more days we can skip this semester before they call home. And I will not survive that.” JJ tried to joke, ignoring the nervousness that was building up in his stomach at the thought. 

“Fuck off, JJ. Just go to school and get out of my house! I’m not going, so just leave me alone!” John B. finally sat up and he shoved JJ back with way too much force for it to be friendly. JJ hit the wall next to John B’s bed.

JJ couldn’t help but feel his heart rate go up, it happened every time someone aimed unexpected physical contact his way. JJ resisted putting his hand over his beating heart and took a few deep breaths, reminding himself that it was just John B. his friend and not his dad. 

He knew he was looking at John B. with a hurt expression, but he couldn’t help it. John B. had never pushed him like that, with the intention of actually hurting him and he had never told him to get out of his house before. He always went out of his way to get JJ to stay at his house as much as possible. 

It was too much for JJ to handle at six thirty in the morning. He pushed himself off of the wall where John B. had shoved him and started to walk towards the door right as John B. called out, “JJ….”. JJ didn’t stop and John B. didn’t try to follow him.

JJ left The Chateau after making sure he had all of his stuff he had left over the past week and walked down John B.’s long dirt road to the bus stop. He blinked furiously when he felt pressure behind his eyes. He was way too old to cry at something like this. He just couldn’t help the way it had felt like a knife was in his chest when John B. had told him to get out.

JJ rode the bus alone, glaring at anyone who tried to sit near him. He pulled out his fidget spinner he had bought and practiced some tricks.

As he was walking down the hallway to his first class, Pope appeared next to him. “Dude, you need a haircut. I could literally see you all the way down the hallway. Your hair looks like you electrocuted yourself.”

JJ gave him a fake glare as he reached up and flattened his hair a little bit. "It's what makes all the girls want to mack on me, bro."

“Gross. John B. says he’s sorry.” 

JJ stopped walking for a second and was pushed from behind. He pulled Pope over to the side of the hallway. 

“Woah. Some warning next time, bro.” Pope joked as he stared at JJ.

“How did you talk to John B.?” JJ asked suspiciously.

“Hello? It’s 2018. He texted me.” Pope said, looking at JJ like he was crazy. 

JJ nodded because that checked out. He forgot all of his friends had a way to communicate that didn’t involve having to locate them manually around the island. It must be nice.

“Tell him to leave me alone please, Pope.” JJ said back. Pope made a face. 

“What is going on with you two? I’ve never even seen a fight between you guys last for longer than thirty seconds.”

“Don’t worry your big smart brain about it, Pope. I’m going to have some JJ time. As soon as health class is over, I’m out free.” JJ said, starting to walk off. 

Pope called out after him that he still had Frankenstein face paint on the right side of his face. JJ waved over his shoulder like he didn't care before booking it to the bathroom to wash it off. 

_____________________________________________________________

It turns out, JJ was not out free. He couldn’t calm down from what had happened with John B. and he was terrified to go home later that night after so many nights away. Which meant he couldn’t sit still at all during his first period English class and he ended up going to the “bathroom” and actually going out near the locker room to vape. 

Unfortunately for JJ, he was caught for the first time, like, ever and they called his dad. The only positive was that they didn’t actually make his dad come to the school, because that definitely would have ended in murder. And JJ wished he was joking. They took his vape and JJ had almost cried when he saw Mrs. Miller lock it into her evil confiscation filing cabinet. That thing was his baby. 

That hadn’t been enough to stop JJ from ditching school as soon as health class was over. Mrs. Cooper had even asked him if he was okay since he wasn’t calling out questions or volunteering for any of her cool skeleton presentations she was doing with them. He had told her he was just tired and had snuck out of an empty science lab’s back door after class. 

He stopped on the way to the beach to lift some snacks from the convenience store. He wasn’t even hungry, he just did it because he could. 

He stopped at his cousin’s house and bought some more weed. He bought more than he needed out of vengeance since John B. had wanted weed earlier. His cousin gave him the family discount and he had been stealing a lot more so he had more cash from his paycheck to spend. 

By the time he made it to the beach that he and John B. usually snuck out to when they ditched, he was feeling pretty angry. Angry at John B. for pushing him and ruining his entire day. Angry at Big John for leaving and making his usually stable and reliable best friend have mood swings. Angry at the school for calling his dad. Angry at his dad for being an abusive asshole. He even felt angry at Pope for not taking his side, even though he knew that was unreasonable since Pope didn’t even know what had happened and hadn’t even chosen a side. 

JJ threw himself down on the sand and put his backpack under his head as a pillow. He slung his arm over his eyes and just laid there. All of the sudden it was really easy to be still and really hard to think about moving. So he laid there for awhile. 

He didn’t know how long he had been laying there but he opened his eyes when he felt a shadow loom over him. He squinted into the sun and saw long, curly black hair. 

“What do you want, Kie? Aren’t you worried your Kook friends are gonna see you talking to me?” JJ said, covering his eyes again. 

Kiara hadn’t hung out with them for the past three weeks and JJ mentally added her to his list of people he was angry at. He missed his best friend. At first, he had been happy for her, but after weeks of not hearing from her or seeing her, he couldn’t help but feel the all too familiar sense of abandonment at the thought of her. 

“Shut up, JJ. Pogues for life. I've just been busy.” Kie said as she plopped down next to him and laid down by his side. 

“Pogues for life? That’s rich coming from a Kook who was just hanging out with Pogues until she could find some rich friends.” JJ said back. He knew he was being mean but he couldn’t help it. He was going through too much to deal with Kiara acting like she hadn’t left them behind. 

“Wow. If I had known you were going to be a dick, I wouldn’t have come over here. What the fuck, JJ?” He heard Kie sit up and he just knew she was glaring at him. 

“I didn’t ask you to come over here. You can go back to the Camerons now that you made yourself feel like a good friend by checking on me.” JJ said, refusing to move his arm and actually look at Kie when he said that. 

“Screw you, JJ. What do you know? Some friend you are.” Kie said and he heard her stand up and walk away. JJ thought it showed a lot that she didn’t really have an argument to defend herself. She was definitely gone for good. 

The thought made his stomach clench and his heart hurt. Fighting with two friends in one day had to be a record. 

When the sun started to set, JJ finally sat up and started to think about going home. He hadn’t been there in five days and four nights and he knew his dad was going to be extra pissed after the phone call home today.

He didn’t have the option of going to The Chateau and he briefly thought about going to Pope’s but knew that that would raise major red flags and Heyward had already been nosy enough. He didn't need to give him any more reasons to ask him questions. 

He couldn’t avoid going home any longer. He knew it was going to be bad no matter what, so he might as well get it over with. Maybe he would get lucky and his dad would be the good kind of high. The kind of high where he left JJ alone and sometimes gave him compliments. The kind of compliments that made JJ feel empty inside because he knew that his real, sober dad would never say them, but were better than nothing. 

JJ started to walk down the tree lined road to his house. He pulled out his bag of weed and rolling papers and sat down on a stump in the woods to roll the perfect blunt. He lit it up and continued walking, tilting his head back and blowing smoke rings. He got high fast but he figured he was just smoking a lot. JJ was so focused on practicing the bull ring trick his cousin had shown him that he didn’t even notice a car had pulled up next to him until he heard his dad’s voice. 

“Look who it is. You think you’re grown? Staying out all week, smoking up at school and shit?” Luke said, leaning his arm out the window. 

JJ turned slowly to face him. His mouth was still in an ‘o’ shape from trying to do the trick but he was too stoned to do anything about it. The weed was doing the trick but he still felt like all of his nerves were tingling when he came face to face with his dad. 

He didn’t say anything, but he did manage to close his mouth after a few seconds. The blunt was still lit between his fingers.

“Give me that.” His dad said, gesturing towards his hand. 

“Give you what?” JJ asked stupidly. He blinked slowly and looked down at his hand. 

“What are you, retarded? Give me the blunt.” His dad said to him. JJ took a step back. He didn’t want to give his dad the blunt. His head was spinning and he felt like he was in someone else’s body. He wondered if his cousin had gotten some laced supply. He hadn’t felt this way since he first started smoking. 

“Take one more step away from me and see what happens.” Luke said. His eyes were narrowed and JJ’s brain told him to listen. 

“Get in the car. Now.” Luke said again to JJ. JJ knew better than to disobey him when he told him to do something. 

JJ went around the back of the truck and opened the car door. It took him a few tries to get the door handle and he felt nauseous. He got it on the third try and got into the car. He didn’t bother putting on his seatbelt. 

“Give it to me.” His dad said to him again. JJ apparently moved too slowly for Luke because as soon as he started to raise his hand to give his dad the weed, his dad grabbed him and slammed him against the car window. He punched him once, hard, in the left side of his face and ripped the blunt out of his hand. He started driving, fast, while smoking it.

"When I tell you to do something, you do it."

JJ stayed against the car door and closed his eyes. A tear slipped out from his eyes but his dad didn’t notice. He had already been having one of the worst days of his life and now he was high on some twisted shit, and trapped in the car with his dad pelting towards the last place he wanted to be right now.

When they got home, his dad told him that in the morning they were going to go to the salvage yard and work on moving some new stock. He told JJ he would give him some of what he earned. His dad was like that, smacking JJ and then talking to him like nothing had happened. 

JJ went into the bathroom and brushed his teeth. He looked at the huge bruise that was beginning to form near his left eye. He decided against taking a shower because he felt sick.

He went to bed and laid down but found that he couldn’t go to sleep. He laid there for a long time thinking about John B. and Kie before he heard a knock at his window. His eyes shot open and he looked over, but his body wouldn’t cooperate. 

John B. was at his window, dressed in a black sweatshirt and a black hat. JJ wanted to roll his eyes at how John B. always tried to dress like a ninja when they did anything at night but he couldn’t get his eyes to move. 

John B. knocked again and gestured at him to hurry up. JJ decided that he needed to get up before his dad heard, even though he told himself he didn’t want to see John B. and so why did he feel so happy to see him?

Instead of letting John B. climb in, he climbed out. He tripped and almost hurt his ankle, but John B. caught him. 

He glared at John B. Maybe he had wanted to fall. Stupid John B. 

“Will you please forgive me?” John B. asked, clasping his hands together and doing a bad impersonation of what he probably thought was a cheating girlfriend asking for her boyfriend to forgive her. 

“Forgive you for what?” JJ said. He wasn’t going to make this easy for John B.

John B. looked JJ over, but it was dark and JJ couldn’t tell if he could see his bruise or tell that he was high. John B. threw himself into his apology. He apologized for yelling at JJ, for pushing him and for telling him to get out. He told JJ that it wasn’t just his house, it was their house and that JJ should kick him out instead next time. That line was the one that made him forgive John B. 

“Fine! I forgive you okay! Just stop talking, it’s making my head hurt. Damn!” JJ said, but he was smiling. John B. smiled a goofy grin back at him in the dark. 

“Get your shit and let’s go, bro. I stole my dad’s car, but I parked it all the way down your driveway so your dad wouldn’t see.” 

“Driving illegally? I’m impressed, John B. Very ballsy. Ten out of ten on the Richter Scale.” 

“That’s for earthquakes, dumbass. Just shut up and get your stuff." John B. said back.

JJ started to move towards his window when he remembered that he had to help his dad tomorrow. 

He decided that he could go with John B. now and meet his dad there tomorrow and that it probably wouldn't make a difference. He climbed back out of his window with his backpack and John B. laughed when he tripped and did a dramatic fall towards the ground on purpose. JJ flashed him a bright smile back. It felt good to have his friend back. He tried not to think about Kie.

They drove back to The Chateau and John B. chatted his ear off the entire way home. He got JJ a frozen bag of french fries from the freezer when they got inside and he saw his face. JJ called him a girl and his stomach dropped again when he realized that Kie wouldn’t be around to call his insults sexist anymore. 

John B. told him not to go back home again and to just live with him and his dad. He had been saying that since the fourth grade and JJ didn’t answer. He wanted that more than anything but he did love his dad and he knew his dad loved him, as twisted as it came out. 

JJ threw a pair of dirty socks that were on the floor at John B.’s head when he kept staring at him. John B. screamed like a girl and threw dirty boxers at JJ. It was a full on war. 

The next day, JJ woke up to two very familiar voices, but voices that he didn’t really ever hear talking to each other. He sat bolt upright when he realized that his dad was outside talking to John B. He could hear them clearly since the window was open and he peeked outside to see if John B. needed help. 

Luke’s arms were crossed and his back was to JJ, but he could tell he was wound up. John B. was leaning against the railing on his front steps and had on his “polite” face that he used when speaking to adults. 

“Yeah, I totally understand, Mr. Maybank. JJ told me all about it and how he was looking forward to it.”

“Well, tell him to come out here then. I need to be there soon and him sleeping all day isn’t helping.” Luke said back, already walking towards the car. 

“Sure thing, Mr. Maybank! He’ll be right out.” John B. said. When he entered the living room, JJ could see that he was finishing an eye roll. 

“Your creepy dad is here. He was banging around looking for you. He says you need to go to work with him. He seems pissed.” John B. said, grabbing two protein bars from the kitchen and putting them in his backpack.

“He’s always pissed.” JJ said, as he rushed to get ready, not wanting to make his dad mad after last night. He pulled on a shirt from yesterday and his jacket and threw his boots on before throwing his backpack over his shoulder. He stopped when he saw that John B. was following him outside. 

“Where are you going?” He asked John B. 

“With you, duh. I’m not letting you go off with him alone to do work on a Saturday. Besides, Pope is working today and I don’t feel like hanging with randos. And I’ll be so lonely without you, waiting for you to come home!” John B. fluttered his eyelashes at JJ.

JJ pushed him but John B. jumped out of the way. 

“Thanks, man.” He said, deciding to be serious.

“No problem. Hey, the guest gets to sit shotgun!” John B. called as if sitting shotgun next to Luke was something to fight over. JJ would love to never sit shotgun again. 

JJ knew he was doing it so he could have some distance from his dad. And he appreciated it. A lot.

It felt good having his brother back.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I struggled with this chapter, I feel like it has a different tone than the previous chapters, but hopefully you didn’t notice and enjoyed it anyways! Also, I'm taking a several chapter hiatus from Luke after this, he is an a**!! JJ deserves way better!


	6. What Are You Thankful For?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> JJ and John B. somehow get invited to the Heywards for Thanksgiving, there is drama at The Boneyard when Kiara is on the Kook side and Pope shows his wild side when he initiates revenge against the Kooks.

JJ always had mixed feelings about Thanksgiving break. He knew he of all people should be happy to not have school for a whole week, since he ditched so much. But the thing was, he liked skipping school because he liked to have school there as an option. When he skipped, he chose not to go. When school was closed, it narrowed down his options of things to do when he got bored. But mostly, when school was closed for holiday breaks, it meant his friends were around less because they were busy with their families. 

JJ and his dad usually went to his aunt and uncle’s house for Thanksgiving but this year Luke had told JJ that he and his brother were going to go visit their mom in South Carolina. JJ really didn’t want to go there, he had met Luke’s mom a few times and she was meaner than him, which was a tough award to win. JJ didn’t think she ever left South Carolina and Luke didn’t visit her often. 

Thanksgiving had never been anything special and it had almost always ended in family fights, except the one year JJ had spent it with John B. in the fourth grade. 

He asked if he had to go and Luke said he didn’t give a shit what he did, so JJ got a whole three days to himself during the break, which was extremely amazing. 

He wasn’t planning to do anything for Thanksgiving except surf all day with John B., since Big John had had a major lead in whatever he did in his office all day and had left on Tuesday. He knew John B. and his dad had had a major fight about it and that John B. was upset. He knew John B. usually looked forward to having his dad around on holidays and he was kind of pissed at Big John on John B.’s behalf. But he was also really happy to have a friend in the same boat.

They were together at a house that was under construction on Figure Eight exploring and drinking and seeing how the other half lived, when John B. brought up Kie. He and Pope would sometimes bring her up when telling stories or talk about how if Kie was with them, she would say such and such about this or that. JJ didn’t like when they talked about her like that because it felt like she was dead. When they didn’t talk about her, he could pretend she never existed. So he never talked about her anymore. 

It had officially been four whole weeks since she had last hung out with them. JJ hadn’t told John B. about his fight with her on the beach and he wasn’t planning on it. He knew he should have given her a chance and been happy to spend time with her when she had come over, but he was so hurt by her sudden abandonment that he couldn’t find it in him.

He didn’t know if she still texted John B. and Pope, but if she did, it wasn’t anything significant. And he was hurt but he was also angry. He didn’t understand how she could abandon her best friends of more than three years like that. 

“If Kie was here, she would be talking about how this house is going to harm the dolphins or some hippie shit like that.” John B. said from where he was looking in the soon to be shower. 

“She’s not here though. And she can’t really say stuff like that, it makes her a hippochondriac since she lives in a big Kook mansion herself.” JJ said as he jumped and tried to swing from the beams they had added to the ceiling. He couldn’t reach them but that didn’t stop him from trying. 

“Do you mean hypocrite?” John B. said, laughing at JJ.

“I got the hippo part right, bro.” JJ said, shrugging his shoulders. “Don’t think about Kie, man. She was obviously just slumming it with us until she could find some Kook friends. Now that she’s in with the Camerons, she’s not coming back. Accept it and move on. I have.” He hadn’t, but it wouldn't help John B. if he knew that.

“You don’t know that, JJ. Kie is one of our best friends.”

“Was one of our best friends, John B. In case you didn't notice, she ditched us and she isn’t coming back anytime soon. It’s time to move on, baby.” JJ said before grabbing John B.’s beer can from him and running down the unfinished steps, laughing. 

“If you’re gonna call me baby, at least buy me dinner first!” John B. called after him. 

“I’ll steal dinner for you, easy. And you think I won’t.” JJ said as he popped his head back up. He took a sip of John B.’s beer to see if he would chase him. John B. chased him all the way downstairs and out of the house.

They rode JJ’s dirt bike to Heyward’s store so that they could kidnap Pope for some bonding time. John B. didn’t like to grab onto JJ and gripped the back of the seat instead. JJ did some extra sharp turns until John B. was forced to wrap his arms around him. JJ smiled triumphantly because he knew it embarrassed John B. As if he didn’t wear patterned shirts everyday. That shit was embarrassing in JJ’s opinion.

When they pulled up to Heyward’s, John B. made sure to make some shitty joke about what Heyward would do to JJ if he caught him stealing. He did this every time and it was never funny, but John B. thought it was hilarious. JJ cursed the day Pope told John B. why they were late to surfing in October. John B. thought it was hilarious that JJ had been scared of Heyward.

“Now be careful. If you take something, Heyward might lock you-”

JJ pushed him and he fell into some boxes of supplies outside the front door and knocked them over. 

“Whoever that was is going to be working here for not just one year, but two years for free if they don’t knock it the hell off!” Heyward called from inside the store. 

JJ laughed when he saw John B.’s terrified face. “Who’s scared now, bro? Heyward’s just a harmless teddy bear. How could you possibly-”

“Harmless teddy bear? I never said that.”

“You so did. And now you're shitting your pants because he called you out one time. Just own up to it, dude. It’s okay to be scared.” JJ reached over to John B. and tried to pinch his cheek. John B. ducked out of the way and ended up knocking over more boxes.

“I know I didn’t just say something and y’all ignored it. Because that would mean I got myself two new employees, free of charge.” Heyward came out of the store and stood in the doorway with his hands on his hips. 

“It was all John B., Heyward, I swear. I was just walking in to see if our good friend Pope was free yet and he tripped over his own feet. He needs to be put to work, sir. It’s the only way to help him.”

John B. opened his mouth to argue back but Heyward held up his hand. “First of all, I saw the whole damn thing. Try it on someone who falls for your little tricks. And second of all, Pope isn’t here. He’s helping his mama get ready for Thanksgiving.”

JJ couldn’t help but feel a little bit of a sinking feeling when he was reminded of what normal families did for holidays. He shook it off and said, “That blows. When is he gonna be done?”

John B. stepped on his foot and gave him a "what the fuck?" face. JJ shrugged back at him. It did blow.

“After Thanksgiving. And then he has a shift with me. So not till Friday night.” Heyward said, raising his eyebrow at them.

“Damn. You really take this whole Thanksgiving thing seriously, Heyward. Two whole days?” JJ said, pulling out his fidget spinner and twirling it around. 

Heyward sighed and picked up the box that John B. had knocked over, carrying it inside. JJ and John B. grabbed the other two boxes and carried them inside, before turning to go.

“What are y’all doing for Thanksgiving?” Heyward said to them in what JJ knew to be his “lovingly resigned voice”. 

“Surfing until we can’t stand up anymore.” JJ said back, proud to share his plans with someone else. It was going to be great. John B. had even “borrowed” some wet suits from his job on Mr. Dunleavy's yacht. 

“No you’re not. Be there at one o’clock and wear something nice.” 

And just like that, JJ and John B. officially had legitimate, traditional Thanksgiving plans. 

___________________________________________________________________

“You can’t wear that shirt, John B. It literally has naked girls on it. The whole Heyward family would probably die of a collective heart attack.” JJ said from where he was lounging on John B.’s bed. 

“It’s artistic. And it has buttons so it’s automatically a dress shirt.” John B. said as he put his shoes on. 

“Seriously, bro. It’s your funeral.”

“Do you really think they’ll care?” John B. asked, turning to JJ. 

“These people gave birth to Pope, John B. Think about that and then, voila! You have your answer.” JJ sat up and tied the laces on his boots. He was lucky he had had his white button up work shirt in his backpack. He looked like a choir boy.

_____________________________________________________________

JJ had the time of his life at the Heywards. There were two whole tables piled with all of the best Thanksgiving foods and there was a whole table dedicated solely to pies. Heyward’s mom, dad, sister and nieces and nephews were there and Mrs. Heyward’s three sisters, their husbands and their kids were all there. Somehow they had managed to fit everyone. Even though they had had to put tables in the kitchen, living room and dining room so everyone had somewhere to sit. 

JJ and John B. stuck close together and trailed Pope around at first, feeling out of place. They soon realized that everyone was fine with these random strangers at their Thanksgiving and they relaxed. They had fun playing with all of Pope’s cousins in the yard. John B. let the power go to his head during a game of "Mother May I". 

Before they ate, everyone held hands and got in a big circle outside to share what they were thankful for. JJ was mature and said that he was thankful for getting to come to a Thanksgiving that looked like the ones on tv. He thought he saw Pope’s mom look sad when he said that but he smiled so they knew he was happy about it. John B. was stupid and awkward and said that he was happy to eat as much chicken as he could. Everyone corrected him and said it was a turkey. 

When everything was over, Mrs. Heyward gave them both full bags of leftovers to take home. She hugged them and told them that it was great having them and that it had made their Thanksgiving complete.

JJ couldn’t pretend that didn’t feel good. 

__________________________________________________________

The Friday night after Thanksgiving was known for being one of the best party nights at The Boneyard. Instead of just keggers, there was a variety of alcohol that was leftover from everyone’s Thanksgivings and was easily stealable for the Kooks, whose parents barely noticed when things went missing. It was awesome. 

JJ was really drunk and feeling good when shit started to go down. John B. had seen Kiara on “the Kook side” and had drunkenly decided it would be a good idea to cross the unspoken boundaries and go talk to her. 

JJ had been pouring himself another cup when he heard Kiara yell John B.’s name. He turned around quickly and saw John B. get pushed by some unnamed Kook wearing a bubble vest. JJ rolled his eyes and ran over. Only John B. would be crazy enough to cross enemy lines only to be shoved by a rich kid whose parents could afford everything but sleeves for his jacket.

John B. punched the guy in the nose. JJ debated between whether John B. needed help or if he should stop him. 

“JJ, stop him!” Kiara screamed at JJ as John B. and the Kook wrestled in the sand. John B. was clearly winning so JJ didn’t see any need to stop him. He was a great friend and wanted John B. to have his glory.

He looked at Kie for only a second before looking back at John B. to see if he would need to jump in. Honestly, it was hard to even be this close to Kiara. He missed his friend so much that it hurt. The old Kie would have stopped John B. herself. She would have jumped in and grabbed the Kook. The new Kie stood next to Sarah Cameron wearing a full face of makeup and straightened hair. He didn’t recognize her in more ways than one. 

“Yeah, JJ, stop him.” Rafe mimicked from the other side. 

“Shut up, Rafe.” Kie said from where she stood next to his sister. 

“Yeah, shut up Rafe.” JJ repeated back at him. 

“If you wanna go, JJ, I’m ready right now. I’ll beat your ass no problem.” Rafe said, walking over to JJ. 

“No, no, I couldn’t possibly fight you, Rafe. I mean I’m over here just shaking in fear, man. What are you gonna do, get three of your prepubescent lackeys to hold me down so you can punch me like a girl again?” JJ said, getting in Rafe’s face. He checked on John B. and saw that he was still ok. He heard Pope coming over and saw him going near Kie. 

Kie was probably mad that he had said ‘punch like a girl’, but JJ didn’t care anymore. If she wasn’t his friend, he wasn’t going to change insults to make her happy. Even if he did know girls had hard punches. Kie had punched him once to prove it. 

Turns out, Rafe was not happy about being told he punched like a girl and missed JJ’s entire point about him only winning in a fight if he had his friends hold JJ down first. Because JJ found himself surrounded by Kooks and getting punched repeatedly by Rafe. 

He didn’t go down without a fight, and knew from the grunt that Rafe made that some of his kicks landed where he needed them to. He could barely make out John B., who was being pulled off Nameless Kook by Pope and held back. 

Apparently, the chances of the police showing up to a party at The Boneyard were slim and had only been recorded twice in history, but not zero. They must have been having a really slow night if they off roaded it all the way out here to break up a high school party. 

“Go, go, go!” Rafe yelled as he and the rest of the Kooks ran towards the woods to hide out. JJ laughed when he saw why everyone was running. Two cops who had probably never arrested anyone in their whole career were walking into the party with their flashlights out. JJ sat up, panting and pushed his hair out of his eyes and saw Kiara frozen, one foot towards he and John B. and one step towards the woods. Sarah tugged on her arm and told her to hurry and that’s all it took for her to run away with the rest of the Kooks to safety. 

JJ got up as fast as he could and grabbed his backpack before he, John B. and Pope all ran as fast as they could towards the other side of the beach that led to a hidden area in some bushes. They hid there and waited until the two cops had their backs turned and called for backup on the radio. They booked it into the other side of the woods before they turned back. JJ didn’t know what the cops had been thinking. It didn't look like they caught anybody. You don’t walk into a rager. You pull up with the whole squad and all of your police cars if you actually wanted to shut down a Boneyard party.

“That…was…crazy!” Pope said in between pants. All three of them had their hands on their knees, bent over to try to catch their breath. JJ tried not to think of how Kie had done the same thing with them last time they had had a Kook fight. 

“John B., you okay?” He asked, putting a hand on his friend’s shoulder. 

“Of course I’m okay, I totally kicked that guy’s ass!” John B. said back, straightening his shirt and fixing his hair. He barely had a scratch on him.

“JJ, are you okay? Rafe and his friends were hitting you pretty hard. Can’t believe he fought you four against one. What a joke.” Pope said as he caught his breath and stood up straight. 

“A joke is right. I’m all good, just a few bruises. Nothing that I haven’t had before.” JJ said. His ribs were killing him and so was his face, but he wasn’t going to look like he couldn’t handle a Kook or two in front of his friends. 

“What’s your plan?” Pope asked him as JJ felt his ribs. 

“Plan? You mean the one that involves me going home with my friends, putting ice on my ribs and getting high before sleeping till noon?” JJ asked, looking at Pope like he was crazy. Why did Pope always need a plan? Wasn’t planning ahead by four years to cut up dead bodies enough for him?

“No, I mean what’s your plan for revenge? Are we just gonna let Rafe and his boys get away with this forever? He had his friends hold you down so he could beat the shit out of you. I’m tired of it. And they stole Kie.” Pope said the last sentence quietly, but JJ still heard it. JJ could tell he was worked up because he had cussed and Pope only did that when he was angry or sad or both. 

“Woah, woah, woah. Are my ears and eyes deceiving me or is Pope Heyward actually asking for revenge? Against Kooks?” John B. said as he walked over and leaned his elbow on Pope’s shoulder. 

“They aren’t deceiving you. The man wants revenge. I’m in.” JJ said and he smirked when Pope and John B. smiled back. It was time to get some much needed revenge and they all knew it. 

__________________________________________________________

An hour later and the three of them were staked outside of Tannyhill, hidden in the huge bushes behind the sign. They had been outside for thirty minutes making sure that Rafe absolutely, positively was not home before getting ready to make their big move. 

The thing about mansions like Tannyhill, was that they either had too much security or basically none at all. The Camerons were so confident that no one would mess with them, that they never turned their alarm on and didn’t even have cameras. All things that would help The Pogues get sweet revenge. 

JJ was the first to go. He crawled along the bushes before quietly making his way to the iron fence and climbing over it. Pope and John B. tried to follow, but John B. got stuck on the fence and needed them to throw sticks at him before he got motivated to try to get loose. That got him moving and soon the three of them were creeping through the yard to the back door. It opened easily when JJ put his pocket knife into the lock and twisted it around. Rich people were so predictable.

The house was pitch black dark downstairs and they froze at the bottom of the stairs, hiding by crouching next to them and listened for ten minutes before creeping up them. Once in the upstairs hallway, JJ turned the hall light on. John B. and Pope frantically mouthed things to him and waved their arms at him. He didn’t see what their problem was. They needed to see, so they needed light. Duh. 

He waved back at them before Pope ran forward and turned the lights back off. 

“Sarah? Wheezie? Is that you girls?” Mr. Cameron’s voice came down the hallway as they heard a door crack open. JJ grabbed John B. and Pope and threw them into the closest room. He closed the door silently and they crouched in the dark until they heard Mr. Cameron go back into his room and close the door. 

They were crouched silently for about twenty seconds trying to make out through the darkness if someone was in the bed. Finally, JJ reached up and turned on the lights. John B. and Pope silently screamed at him again. He did a victory smile when they saw that the room was empty. 

What wasn’t so lucky was that they were definitely in Sarah’s room. She had pictures all over her walls and her closet was bursting with outfits she probably never wore more than once. JJ felt a twinge deep in his stomach again when he saw pictures of Kie smiling with her. Like she had never had other best friends before Sarah. He saw Pope and John B. looking at them two and knew how they felt. 

He whispered to them. “Here’s the plan. I’m thinking the next room over is her little sisters because girls like to stick together like that. That leaves one door on the other side of the hallway that must be Rafe’s since we know the King and Queen have the double doors at the end. We get caught and we run. Knock shit over to slow them down if you have to. And never, ever turn around because then they can see your face. Got it?”

They nodded back, impressed that JJ had such a solid plan. They turned off Sarah’s light and crawled down the dark hallway to the last door on the left. It was cracked so they crawled in without making any noise and closed the door. JJ turned the lights on and this time, John B. and Pope didn’t whisper scream at him. Instead, they both shot JJ evil smirks before taking their backpacks off and pulling out the bottles of syrup and motor oil Pope had “borrowed” from his dad’s store. John B. and JJ had been too scared to even stand outside when he did that. 

It might not have been the best payback, but it felt totally amazing covering all of Rafe’s pastel colored Kook clothes in syrup and motor oil. They even poured some in his underwear drawer and in his bed. 

"Oh my god. Bros. Get. over. here. immediately." JJ said as he opened a box Rafe had hidden under his bed. 

"What? What did you find? A dead body?" Pope and John B. rushed over and burst out laughing when they saw what JJ was holding up. Apparently Rafe was a little too into clowns. He had a whole box full of vintage clown porn tapes. JJ put one in his backpack as blackmail before pouring syrup over the rest. 

Once everything was well and truly covered, they put the evidence back in their bags before getting ready to go. John B. couldn't help himself and farted directly onto Rafe's pillow. JJ and Pope were cracking up and laughed out loud by accident. They froze and listened to see if they had been heard before sneaking down the hallway. On their way down the steps, they heard a little girl’s voice shout out for her dad. “Dad! There are monsters in the hallway! Help!” She screamed when she saw their shadowy figures on the staircase.

They booked it. JJ and John B. let out loud whoops once they had hopped the fence. Lights were turning on in Tannyhill but the three of them barely turned around, they were running so fast and laughing even harder. 

Best Thanksgiving break ever, JJ thought as he jumped on John B.’s back. 

Revenge was sweet.


	7. The Flannel Formal

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After a mishap at the school dance, the Pogues get caught doing something they shouldn’t and it has some dire consequences, especially for JJ and Pope.

Kildare High School had four dances during the school year, but everyone only went to two of them: The ‘Flannel Formal’ in December and the ‘Aren’t You Glad It’s Summer- Summer’s Eve Bash’ the night before the last day of school.

The other two dances weren’t worth mentioning because you supposedly had to buy tickets and register your name and dress up. Not that JJ would know. He hadn’t known anyone who went in the fall and he didn’t really care to learn more. 

The Flannel Formal was during the last week of school before Winter Break and it was when everyone put on their fanciest flannel shirt and packed into the cafeteria, which was obviously very sweaty, so by the end, most had fallen to the floor and you were lucky if you could recover yours by the end of the night. It wasn’t the type of dance where you took a date, in fact, none of the dances that anyone went to were like that, with the exception of Prom in Senior Year. Everyone basically just packed into the cafeteria and grinded on each other if they wanted to flirt. It was great. 

They turned all the lights out and pulled out the school’s disco balls and it was always DJ’ed by this hippy named Leaf, who had gone to high school there in the 80’s and had been doing it ever since. He played a lot of his type of music, but he also played what they liked so it was an okay balance. 

All of the teachers were really happy that they were about to have a three week break from students so they either didn’t care what was happening in the cafeteria (as long as no fights broke out and no one was hurt) or they were too busy laughing with each other and reliving their high school days to watch too closely. It was mostly the young teachers who chaperoned, so JJ felt confident that they still understood the need to go all out with your friends.

It had such a reputation and was such a tradition for so many years that parents who had gone there either refused to let their child go because they knew firsthand what it was like or they lived vicariously through them by asking for details when they got home. 

JJ wore the most flannels out of the three of them in the winter (he had four of them) so John B. and Pope were at his house grabbing shirts before they went. His dad had left yesterday for some shifty work situation and he was enjoying being able to relax at his house for once. 

“This wreaks of weed, JJ.” Pope said as he sniffed a green flannel and held it out dramatically towards JJ to confirm.

JJ smelled it and shrugged. Weed was a great smell so he didn’t know why Pope was already complaining. “I guess the smell just sticks more when you actually wear sleeves.” he said back to him, pulling on his blue flannel shirt.

“I’ll wear the weed shirt.” John B. volunteered. “Green brings out my eyes.”

“If you want to bring out your eyes, you should wear red because we are about to get faded, John B.” JJ said as he sat down to finish rolling the two blunts he had started rolling earlier on his bedside table. 

“Seriously. You guys are going to get caught. And when they catch you, I’m gonna laugh so hard when you have to participate in D.A.R.E.” Pope said as he pulled on the red flannel.

The punishment for being caught with alcohol or drugs on school property used to be a suspension but now with their new approach of trying to ‘rehabilitate’ students who made bad choices, they made students go to group support sessions to talk about why they made the choice they did and how they could see the light.

The teachers usually straightened up and calmed down enough by the end of the dance to find about five students who were sentenced to the D.A.R.E. sessions. It wasn’t hard since basically everyone had pregamed ahead of time. Or during. Or both. 

“The teachers want us to smoke tonight Pope. Trust me. It makes us way more chill and then they have less to worry about. If they’re looking for anyone, it’s the kids who are having their first twisted lemonade tonight and are gonna be falling over. I bet the ones chaperoning tonight are all together right now, pregaming together and getting fucked up.” JJ said as he finished rolling the first blunt and started the second. John B. tried to snatch it up and start early, but JJ slapped his hand. He wasn’t going to do all the work and not get the first hit. 

“They are literally teachers, JJ. They aren’t getting fucked up.” Pope said, but he was laughing. 

“Whatever, dude. All I know is that I’m not being taken into D.A.R.E custody for being high. I’m not a rookie.” JJ said as he finished the second blunt and passed it to John B. 

“That’s literally the exact reason why they have D.A.R.E.” Pope said back, looking back down at his phone. He was texting his parents an elaborate cover story for where they were going because his parents had both said “hell no” when he asked if he could go to the formal tonight. They had gone to high school there and knew what was up. 

JJ waved his blunt at Pope as an offer even though he knew he would never say yes and said “You know why you’re always worrying about getting in trouble, Pope? Because you need to learn to relax, man. Who cares? You know what they say. Struggle is the enemy but weed is the remedy.”

“You’re like literally the only one who says that.”

“Shut up and relax, Pope. Here drink some of this.” John B. said as he pulled out some beer cans he had stolen from his dad out of his backpack and passed them each one. 

“It’s probably better if you don’t start your smoking career tonight anyways, Pope. You’d probably act so weird the whole dance would be shut down. And then our reputations would be ruined for being associated with you.” JJ said as he popped the top on his can.

“Your reputations? What reputations are those? If anything, I enhance both of your reputations.” Pope said back, but he opened his beer too and started drinking.

“Oh my god, both of you shut up, please. I’m trying to get in the right mindset for tonight.” John B. said from where he was smoking on JJ’s bed with his eyes closed. John B. was weird like that and always liked silence when he smoked.

JJ and Pope ignored him and got into an argument about who would win in a fight, Mrs. Miller or Mrs. Kauffman, the school custodian. JJ’s money was always on Mrs. Kauffman because he claimed he had once seen her knock a student over with her mop and laugh. She was savage. Pope said that couldn't have happened because she was basically ninety years old. JJ said you had to see it to believe it. 

They left JJ’s house twenty minutes later, all three in their flannels, looking like some kind of country boy band. They left their jackets even though it was freezing out because they would be covered in sweat soon. JJ hoped this would be as cool as the eighth grade farewell dance, where the dancing had been so intense that even the floors were wet by the end from sweat. That was how you knew it was a great time. 

JJ and John B. were deciding who was going to hide the flask with the blue gatorade/vodka mix. It was mostly gatorade but it made them feel really cool knowing that they were smuggling alcohol into the school. Pope told them they were going too far and to stop drinking but was drinking more of it than either of them. 

One of the only perks of his dad being an alcoholic was that there was never a shortage of different types of alcohol laying around in different bottles and his dad couldn’t keep track of them to notice if JJ stole some every once in a while. 

JJ actually wasn’t drinking that much because he knew beer and weed was already more than enough for him when they mixed. He noticed John B. wasn’t doing much either and he knew he was feeling the high. 

They tried to make Pope be the one to hide the flask since he was basically the only one drinking it on the way over, but he refused, saying he would be kicked out of the honors society if he was caught. JJ rolled his eyes and hid it in the side of his boot until they were inside.

By the time they had walked the twenty minute walk to the school, they were bouncing off the walls with excitement. JJ was happy to see that Pope had loosened up and was bouncing around ready to get inside and see if he would be able to find some girl he'd been crushing on from his honors math class inside. JJ thought that they probably got hot and bothered together talking about co-signs or something nerdy like that. 

They joined the mob of other students flowing into the school and into the cafeteria. The few teachers that were inside were hanging by the walls and in the corners, laughing together and barely paying attention as predicted. JJ told John B. and Pope that some of them looked wasted and John B. agreed with him. Pope had no comment. 

The five disco balls the school had had for decades had been connected to the ceiling and were flashing around the dark cafeteria. Leaf was DJing from the tiny stage they had in the front of the room and was playing some of his weird music, but everyone was vibing. 

JJ, John B. and Pope all found their friends pretty fast and joined the mosh pit in the center of the room. JJ was grabbed by Maya right away, John B. was dancing with Madison and Pope had found the girl from his honors class and they had gone off together to talk. Who does that at a dance, JJ thought as he shook his head. 

Maya was really funny and liked to do crazy shit like JJ did. They usually had a lot of fun together and they had even skipped English class together a couple times. They made out during the third dance and then she left him to go grind on her girl friends during the fourth dance. He watched her walk away and thought about Kiara. He didn’t know why but after she had kissed him, that was the first thing he thought of. 

He figured it was just because he was crossfaded, so he shook it off and went into the very center of the dance floor where John B. and the rest of their friends were. 

He got a lot of cheers and even a shoutout from Leaf, who called him the ‘blonde boy with the good vibes’ when he hit the floor and did his break dancing routine he had been perfecting since the sixth grade. He tried not to think about how Kie had taught him and how they had practiced together on and off for the whole summer between sixth grade and seventh grade.

John B. and JJ decided to “freshen up” after an hour when the girls did the same and went to find Pope so they could drag him along and make him participate. Pope wasn’t happy to be dragged away from where he had been talking to the girl, Ashley from his class, but JJ told him loudly that “absence makes the heart grow stronger” as they dragged him away. Pope blushed when the girl giggled and JJ smiled at her.

There were six other boys in the bathroom and they were sneaking drinks from various hiding spots, both on their bodies and in the bathroom. One guy had even thought ahead and had somehow managed to hide some alcohol in a water bottle and hide it there earlier, during the school day. JJ called him a genius and they bumped fists. 

One of the perks of being a boy was that there were barely any male teachers at the school so teachers checked in the boys bathroom basically never during the day or during the dance. JJ didn’t know if female teachers weren’t allowed to come into the boys bathroom or just didn’t want to, but it worked out for them, so he didn’t care. 

After a little bit, three of the other boys went back to the dance and the remaining three exchanged flasks with JJ, John B. and Pope before heading out the door too. 

John B. had his shirt up and was putting their flask back in the waistband of his boxers when they heard a shout and some scrambling from outside the bathroom. Two of the boys who had just left were being backed into the bathroom by the principal, Mrs. Winters, of all people. And he thought girls wouldn’t come into the boy’s bathroom. Boy, had he thought wrong. He had never heard of the principal coming to one of these dances before. That was definitely new. 

John B. was slow to put the flask away and Mrs. Winters saw it. She made John B. stand next to her and had JJ, Pope and the other two boys stand against the wall. 

JJ could feel more than see Pope starting to freak out next to him and he felt bad. He knew he worked hard to be in the honor society and would lose it if she found out they had been drinking.

Mrs. Winters used her walkie talkie to say a fancy code into it as well as her location. She told the boys to stay put while she stuck her head out of the bathroom door and called down to someone at the end of the hallway. 

While her head was turned, John B. frantically gestured at JJ. JJ knew that John B. wanted him to confess to drinking too so that he wouldn’t be alone in D.A.R.E. sessions. He knew he was going to confess because it’s what John B. would do for him. He was just worried about Pope. The other two boys were trying to see if they could make it to the window and sneak out, but Mrs. Winters popped her head back in and in came the school’s resource officer. 

JJ freaked out internally a little bit when he saw that the officer was holding a breathalyzer. He recognized it from health class and knew that they were all doomed.

“Alright boys. Officer Porter has the right to give any or all students who appear to be impaired a breathalyzer test if it's on school grounds. You have two choices. Confess to drinking on school property and participate in twice a week D.A.R.E sessions for a month, or refuse and if you fail the breathalyzer, we will call your parents, suspend you for a week and you will participate in the sessions upon your return. Now I’ve already got John B. here because he has alcohol on him. Anyone else want to confess before Officer Porter gets started?”

JJ looked at Officer Porter and Mrs. Winters and barely resisted rolling his eyes. He had heard that Mrs. Winters was trying to crack down on students more, but he had thought it was just a rumor. Clearly someone wanted a promotion. She probably thought that if she caught enough poor kids from the Cut drinking on school property then she would get transferred to a school on the mainland where she lived. 

“I was definitely drinking, Mrs. Winters. It’s not a school dance if you aren’t!” JJ said immediately, walking over to stand next to John B. “It was just me and John B. from our group though. Pope is too much of a goodie two shoes and just had to use the bathroom.” he said as he looked at Pope. Pope wasn’t even able to hide his anxiety and it was giving him away. 

“Thank you for telling the truth, JJ, but we still will be giving everyone in here a breathalyzer test to check first, unless they confess. It’s a county rule.” Mrs. Winters said “And if there is any alcohol on anyone’s test, it’s an automatic suspension, so I would urge you to confess before it gets to that, boys.” She looked at the remaining three boys on the other side of the bathroom. 

JJ felt really bad for dragging Pope into the bathroom. He was always helping JJ and he didn’t deserve this. He tried to distract Mrs. Winters again. “I’m also really high. John B. and I smoked up before we came here.” John B. stomped on his foot and JJ did a "what?" face at him. He was trying to save Pope. 

“We will get you some help, JJ. Let’s extend both of your D.A.R.E sessions by another month to make sure they have time to cover both drugs and alcohol abuse.” Mrs. Winters didn’t look like she cared about getting him some “help” and looked happy to be adding drug use to his charges.

"Honestly, thank you so much, Mrs. Winters. I probably would have needed my stomach pumped tonight if you hadn't come in here. I just don't know when to stop. Seriously. Thank you for giving kids like us a chance to turn it all around before it's too late." JJ said. He thought complimenting her might get her to forget about Pope. It didn't work.

The other two boys were stupid and decided to pretend that they hadn’t been drinking. They both failed the test and joined JJ and John B. with Mrs. Winters. It kind of felt like they were forming dodgeball teams. JJ thought he could see Pope shaking and he tried to make eye contact with him to tell him to just confess when Pope said “I was also drinking, Mrs. Winters. I’m sorry.”, while looking at the ground.

“I’m really disappointed in you, Pope. You had so much going for you. You realize this means you won’t be able to participate in the honor society for the rest of this year?” Mrs. Winters said, and JJ did think she looked genuinely sad. He was genuinely sad for Pope, too. He should have listened to Pope’s warnings earlier. 

“Yes, ma’am.” Pope said as he walked over to join the others.

Mrs. Winters and Officer Porter walked them all to the office and had them sit in JJ’s favorite plastic chairs while she called their parents. He was glad his dad was out of town and would never get the voicemail she left on their answering machine. 

Pope looked sick when she called his parents and JJ knocked his knee into Pope’s and left it there for support. 

Heyward came and picked Pope up within ten minutes and JJ could tell he was pissed with a capital P. Pope told John B. and JJ that he would see them later and Heyward said “hell no you won’t” to him as they walked out. The two other boys were picked up quickly too and one of their moms said that the school shouldn’t have made her drive all the way here to pick them up and what was the big deal? JJ thought she seemed like a cool mom to have. 

Big John came and agreed to take JJ too when he told him his dad was out of town until Monday. He looked more annoyed that he had to leave his office than that they had been drinking. Big John never worried too much about what John B. was up to (within reason of course). 

JJ told him that it was awesome that they didn’t get suspended and Big John agreed with that. He said that would have looked bad on their records.

_________________________________________________________________

Pope had been JJ’s “tutor” since seventh grade, when he had first heard about JJ’s struggles and had agreed to help him. It was an arrangement that benefited both of them because Pope always got service hours for honor society and JJ got some really solid help from someone he could trust.

After the dance, Pope told JJ over the phone (Pope was grounded for two weeks),that he could no longer be his tutor since he wasn’t in the honor society anymore. JJ had thought he was joking since it wasn’t like they did it at school officially or anything. 

Pope said he had taken an oath when he had joined and that he couldn’t violate that by continuing the duties of the society when he wasn’t inducted or some shit like that. He said he would help JJ get set up with a new tutor. JJ had gotten mad and had done a “JJ thing” for a few days, avoiding even John B. as he tried to think of what he would do now.

JJ didn’t want a new tutor. It wasn’t even an option. The only reason he had been scraping by these past two and a half years was because he knew Pope wasn’t judging him when he helped him. He knew this was going to ruin the little progress he had made in school over the past few years and he hated that he cared. His special ed services just weren’t enough to keep him afloat and Pope had been the only thing helping him get by.

John B. didn’t really understand what was going on, but he had offered to tutor JJ, which was nice, but was a joke since John B. needed to work on tutoring himself before offering any help. 

JJ felt himself going back into his old mindset when thinking about school. He decided that he didn’t need it and he would just skip even more to focus on his surfing. He figured if he didn’t make it as a pro-surfer, he could just get a job fixing boats or cars when he was older. He told himself not to even worry about it.

When he went back to the Chateau a few days later, he called Pope again and told him it wasn’t a big deal. He lied and said he would work with a new tutor. Pope had told him that was a really big deal and that he was happy he had decided to accept the help.

If Pope had known that JJ had decided the opposite, he would have had a heart attack.

What Pope didn’t know couldn’t hurt him. Besides, they had a whole three week break to look forward to before they went back to school.

JJ pushed his problems to the back of his mind and blew a smoke ring. As long as he had his friends, surfing and weed, he could get through anything.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> What do you think? Will Pope come around and decide to tutor JJ again once he realizes that he isn't getting help from a new tutor? Will he realize it before it's too late? Winter break is up next!


	8. Let the Professional Handle This

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> JJ has a not so happy Christmas, Mrs. Cooper tries to get him to quit vaping during their D.A.R.E. sessions and John B. tries his hand at being JJ's tutor.

JJ had a less than amazing Christmas, which wasn’t unusual for him but was still depressing. His dad had apparently gotten into a fight with his sister’s husband the week before and he and Luke were both uninvited from the usual Maybank Christmas venue. JJ didn’t particularly enjoy going to his aunt and uncle’s house every year, but his cousins were all out of high school and always came too, so it was fun to hang out with them and have other family members there who could deal with his dad.

Luke told him that he didn’t have an uncle or aunt anymore and then proceeded to spend all of Christmas Eve drinking himself into a stupor and yelling about the very same nonexistent uncle. JJ had stayed in his room with a chair under his door, but had gotten bored and snuck out of his window and gone on a long bike ride, spending his last ten dollars on gas.

He hated that Pope and John B. were busy until after Christmas. He missed his friends, especially Pope since he had been grounded for the past week and a half and wouldn’t be free until New Year’s Eve just in time for the party at The Boneyard.

When JJ stupidly decided to ask his dad Christmas morning if he wanted to go fishing, thinking it might put him in a better mood, Luke had slammed him into the oven and told him that they weren’t gonna do shit. The handle had given JJ a huge bruise along his lower back that hurt so much that he couldn’t even bend over to put his shoes on for three days without pain. 

Luke was rude and loud in the background of his Christmas call with Mimi, mocking JJ’s answers to her questions and insulting Mimi. JJ was embarrassed when she heard some of what he was saying. 

“Let me speak to him.” Mimi had demanded. 

JJ didn’t really know how to explain that that wasn’t a good idea when his dad was listening to his every word and would get angrier if he even heard JJ say his name to Mimi. He just said that his dad couldn’t come to the phone right now.

Luke had gotten really pissed and had snatched the phone from him before telling Mimi to stop calling his house or he would call the police on her. JJ wondered if his dad even cared that that wouldn’t even work since Mimi wasn’t doing anything wrong and didn’t even live near them.

He told Mimi that if he didn’t have to deal with Nicole he sure as shit shouldn’t have to deal with her mom. JJ stood close to his dad and the phone anxiously, not knowing what to do or how to protect Mimi.

JJ heard Mimi yelling back at him through the phone before Luke hung up on her. JJ wanted to call her back and apologize, but he knew what would happen if he tried. He made a mental note to call her from John B.’s tomorrow.

He snuck out of his window again after putting on his coat and his winter hat that Kie had made for him last winter. He tried not to think about her and much he missed her but decided to give into his emotions and had a sad solo smoke session on the beach.

The next day, he practically ran to John B.’s house, knowing that he and Big John had gotten back from visiting his Uncle T somewhere late the night before. He was so happy to see John B. that he grabbed him in a bear hug and picked him up off the ground. It was John B.’s birthday and JJ was excited to show him the traction pad for his surfboard that he and Pope had bought for him. John B. loved it and smacked a big kiss right on JJ’s cheek. 

John B. could tell something was up when JJ said he didn’t want to go surfing and test out the traction pad. He asked him a bunch of questions until JJ finally flashed him the bruise on his back to shut him up. John B. told him that he was staying at the Chateau for the next week, no arguments allowed and JJ accepted without a fight. He needed a break.

He called Mimi from John B.’s and before he could say anything, she told him that she wanted to come and get him immediately. He explained that his dad had just been in a bad mood because he had had a fight with his brother-in-law, but Mimi wasn’t buying it. 

“I’ve known your dad longer than you have baby, and he is way too old to still be acting like a child. He shouldn’t be saying those things to you. You deserve more. I talked about it with Tony and we want to fight for you to come live with us down here.”

JJ freaked out immediately at the thought of having to move to Florida and leave behind his entire life. He loved Mimi, but he would die without the Pogues and The Cut and everything that was familiar. It wasn’t perfect, but it was home. He also couldn’t imagine living so close to his mom and having to watch her go about her life like she had never had a son. At least in Kildare, he could convince himself that she didn’t exist.

He pulled out the (only semi) fake tears while John B. watched from the sofa. It wasn’t his finest moment, but Mimi agreed that she wouldn’t take it further as long as he promised to call her every two weeks instead of monthly and would come visit in the summer. He promised and told John B. some crazy story instead of what had really happened before going out to the dock to vape to calm down. 

He let John B. drive his dirt bike as fast as it would go since it was his birthday and JJ showed him how to pop wheelies. They went fishing and got high. They fried the fish that they caught and had cake with Big John. JJ thought it seemed like a solid way to celebrate turning fifteen, but they missed Pope. And Kie, but he refused to think about that. 

New Year’s meant John B. and JJ finally got to reunite with Pope. His parents had decided to let him stay out until midnight since it was New Year’s, but if he was a minute past 12:30, they told him they were going to call the police and he wouldn’t be allowed to go anywhere but school for the next year. Pope said they were acting like dictators, but JJ kind of thought it must be nice to have parents who cared so much. Or parents who cared at all. 

John B. weirdly suggested that they stay at the Chateau and do their traditional Pogue style celebration, right as they were getting ready to head to The Boneyard. JJ got annoyed because he knew he was just suggesting it for his sake. Ever since he had shown John B. his bruise and called Mimi back in front of him, he had been acting like JJ was breakable and he was tired of it. 

“Fuck no, John B. We have been waiting our whole lives to finally be able to have a Boneyard New Year’s and we are not wasting it here. Besides, I sure as hell am not kissing either of you at midnight.” JJ said as he continued stuffing the necessities into his backpack.

John B. looked relieved and JJ rolled his eyes and said “I’m not made of glass, John B. And it’s nothing that hasn’t happened a hundred times over. Stop freaking out.”

John B. went back to normal after JJ said that and they headed out to The Boneyard. Part of JJ wished he wouldn’t have believed him so easily but he pushed that part down deep.

He tried not to think too much about how big of a gap was left by Kiara’s absence for the first time in four years.

They all counted down from ten at midnight and JJ tried really hard not to stare across the beach at where Kie was standing with some nameless Kook boy and Sarah and her Kook boyfriend. And he definitely didn’t care when he saw them kiss at midnight and it didn’t affect him at all when the boy put his arm around her waist and left it there.

JJ kissed Maya because they were standing close to each other and she was pretty and that was enough for him. It was nice, but as soon as it was over, Maya was already running off with her friends, laughing about something and running home before her curfew. 

Pope booked it home too and flipped JJ and John B. off when they called him and his parents lame. He asked if they wanted to come home with him and say that to his parents’ faces and they immediately took it back.

_________________________________________________________________

They were back at school before they knew it and their biweekly D.A.R.E sessions were well underway. They took place every Monday and Wednesday during fourth period, since that was when freshmen had their electives, which were apparently somehow okay to miss even though that made no sense to JJ. Weren’t they classes too?

The sessions were held with Mrs. Cooper in her office and since the other two boys who had been caught were juniors and had a different elective period, it was just John B., Pope and JJ.

JJ was actually kind of excited to have D.A.R.E but pretended like he wasn’t because it had cost Pope the honor society and because John B. would accuse him of having a crush on Mrs. Cooper. 

He did love Mrs. Cooper, but not in that way. He just liked how open she was with them and how she laughed at their jokes and how she actually let them say how they felt. Other teachers never really let them speak and acted like they were rude just for asking questions in class. It was nice to have an adult to talk to who cared just the right amount. 

The first session had consisted of them watching a video on making safe choices and how to say no to drugs and alcohol. They watched it on Mrs. Cooper’s laptop while she left to deal with an emergency. When she came back, she had them each share a time when they had said “no” to alcohol. 

JJ started to make up an elaborate story when Pope and John B. just sat there looking at him, clearly expecting him to make up a lie for them.

“Well, it was the second Saturday in September-” JJ started before Pope cut him off.

“No, it was definitely the second Sunday in September, JJ, remember? Because you had been late to meet us on the beach after leaving Sunday school?”

John B. hadn’t been able to hold in a snort at the thought of JJ leaving Sunday school and Mrs. Cooper told them to come on, at least tell her a realistic story please.

During the second session, Mrs. Cooper discovered JJ’s vaping addiction and made it her personal mission to get him to quit. Apparently she was a big anti-vaper. John B. and Pope thought it was funny and ganged up on him too.

“It’s just what teenagers do, Mrs. Cooper!” JJ said when she told him how it was addictive and bad for his lungs and contained nicotine. 

She, John B. and Pope all told him that that wasn’t true and JJ had crossed his arms and slumped in his seat while watching the vaping education video. John B. and Pope had thought it was hilarious that he was pouting, but they didn’t understand how much it calmed JJ down when he was stressed. He probably was addicted, but what did it matter if it helped him deal with his problems?

During the third session, Mrs. Cooper gave JJ a whole big bag full of hard candy and lollipops to take home, telling him that she would rather have him be addicted to candy than to be addicted to vaping. She told him to eat a piece everytime he had the urge to vape. He promised to give it a try and she, John B. and Pope clapped for him and said they were proud of him. He couldn’t resist smiling as much as he tried to pretend he was still mad. He didn’t know what she would do if she found out that his true addiction was weed, but that was going to stay a secret if he had anything to say about it.

____________________________________________________________________

At the end of January, JJ got his interim and found out that he was failing three of his classes and was barely passing the rest. He had given up on doing basically any work and was skipping class more than ever. JJ’s special ed teacher, Mrs. Hunter had told him that they were going to try to set up a meeting with his dad if he didn’t start to do his work, put in more effort and stop skipping school. He nodded and gave her his best sad face before promising her that he would try harder and that he was sorry. 

Inside, he freaked out more than a little at that. There was only a certain amount of time that he had left before this became a really serious problem. He found himself facing the same hurdle he had faced in the seventh grade, except this time Pope wouldn’t be coming to his rescue. 

He didn’t care about school, but he couldn’t repeat ninth grade. Not only would that be incredibly humiliating, but it would ruin all of their plans and basically his whole life plan. He needed to graduate from high school at the same time as his friends for a lot of reasons. Not to mention if he wanted any kind of decent job. Not that he wouldn’t become a pro-surfer. But just in case. 

JJ decided that he had no choice but to hit John B. up on his offer. He was sure John B. didn’t even remember offering to tutor JJ back in December and he wasn’t even sure if he had been serious, but he was desperate. He was out of options and he didn’t trust anyone else enough to share that he needed help. Kiara had picked the worst time to decide to go full Kook. 

JJ knew that John B. did all of his homework on Sunday nights, so he planned his ambush for then. John B. liked to put all of his assignments for the week off till the last minute, banging them out pretty carelessly in a one to two hour time span. JJ wished he was able to do that. He was sure John B. wasn’t going to be too excited when JJ approached him with his need for help, so he came over on Sunday armed with tons of John B.’s favorite candy bars he had stolen over the course of the past week and a large fries from McDonald’s (medium now, since JJ had eaten half as his delivery fee). John B. loved McDonald’s fries. 

John B. was shoving them into his mouth as he flicked through his history book when JJ decided now was as good a time as any to drop the bomb.

“Dude, I don’t know where to start. The school told me I’m failing like three classes and I’m gonna have to repeat ninth grade if I don’t catch up.” JJ said as he sat down across from John B. and pulled out his binder. 

John B. choked on his fries and JJ jumped up and patted him on the back harder than he probably needed to. He wrapped his arms around John B.’s chest and squeezed a few times. He had seen on YouTube that sometimes food could get stuck in someone’s throat and you had to give them the Hippolick or something like that. 

“Stop! Stop, dude, it came up right away. JJ! Stop squeezing me!” John B. cried out as JJ kept hugging John B. to his chest and leaning all the way over him to see if he was turning blue. 

JJ sat back down. “Sorry bro. Saw it on Youtube and wanted to try it. The hypolick.”

John B. almost choked again and JJ got up, ready to save his best friend for the second time but John B. was just choking on laughter. “It’s the heimlich! Jesus, where do you come up with these remixed names!”

JJ laughed along because he loved making John B. laugh, but he knew it was part of his dyslexia. Sometimes when he heard a name, it was hard to remember the whole thing and it came out like that. He had to admit, it was kind of funny, if only because of John B.’s reactions. And he knew John B. wasn’t actually laughing at him in a mean way, so it was all good.

When John B. was done laughing, he drank some soda and focused on what JJ had said before. “Wait, so Pope really isn’t going to help you anymore? I thought he was just overreacting and had come around. Or that he was gonna get you a new tutor.”

JJ shook his head and shrugged. “Nah, dude. He told me that it went against the pledge or some shit like that and that he couldn’t tutor anyone ethically if he wasn’t in the society. Nerd.” JJ said, but he felt the familiar guilt come back up at the fact that he had played a role in ruining Pope’s academic year. 

“The biggest.” John B. agreed. “I mean, I’m happy to help but shouldn’t you get a real tutor, JJ? I get straight C’s. Nothing more, nothing less.”

“John B., if I got a C in any class, I would kiss you. I mean, if I got a D in any class I would kiss you. I’m not picky.” JJ said, eager to get to work now that John B. seemed receptive to the idea.

“Kiss me and the deal is off.” John B. said as he threw a fry at JJ. JJ caught it in his mouth and John B. gave him a head nod to let him know he saw.

“So you’ll help me?”

“Of course I’ll help you. But I’m not doing your work for you. There will be rules and you’ll need to-”

JJ smiled as John B. rambled on and on. Maybe he wouldn’t have to repeat ninth grade after all.

___________________________________________________________

It turned out that John B. was not ready to be JJ’s tutor. Although, JJ wouldn’t even technically need a tutor if he actually received the special ed services that he qualified for. He was supposed to work with Mrs. Hunter for five hours a week in her room, but it ended up only being about a half an hour to an hour each week if he was lucky since she had so many students on her caseload. 

The school’s solution was the tutoring program, which didn’t really help since high school students weren’t equipped to help other students with learning disabilities. But that’s what Mrs. Hunter told JJ to use to make up for their lost time.

John B. had looked at JJ’s modified assignments and said “This is so easy, dude. We can knock this out in ten minutes, tops. No worries.” JJ had tried not to let John B. comment get to him, he knew he didn’t understand or mean it in a bad way but it honestly made him feel like shit. The assignments that John B. said were easy, JJ could work on for hours and still not fully understand. 

But John B. was a fifteen year old boy who didn’t understand or know much about dyslexia and how it made JJ’s brain function differently than his. And JJ’s dyslexia was severe.

When JJ told him that Pope usually read the chapter books out loud to him, John B. had laughed, thinking that JJ was joking at first. When he realized that JJ wasn’t joking he asked if he had the book on tape, since he remembered that from their middle school classes together. JJ had lied and said yes, that was probably easier, but in reality he knew he couldn’t use the tape. He had a tape player at home, but it was his dad’s and he would never let JJ play a book on tape in their house. If it wasn’t so sad, the thought would be almost laughable. 

John B. tried his best for a few weeks, but he didn’t have the patience to actually help JJ do his work. JJ could tell that he was shocked at how much help JJ needed and how low his reading skills still were, even though he tried to hide it. He figured that John B. thought special ed and Pope had miraculously given JJ the power to read and write like a ninth grader, when in reality he was still reading on a fourth grade level on a good day. 

In the end, John B. ended up doing JJ’s work for him, claiming it was easy enough and that all he needed as payment was weed and some dollar fries. JJ thought it was a pretty good deal even though it made all of his insecurities come back in full force as he fell back into believing he was just plain old stupid. It wasn’t John B.’s fault, he was being the best friend that he could be, but it was just the nature of the deal that had JJ feeling like shit.

Their deal went on successfully until the beginning of April, when Pope showed up while they were “working” to see if they wanted to go out on the boat and go fishing. He walked into the kitchen and pretended to take a picture when he saw JJ and John B. at the table together doing some work. JJ got nervous right away because he knew Pope would be able to tell that John B. was doing his work for him if he came close. 

Of course, luck was not in JJ’s favor and Pope came over to see what they were working on and how close they were to finishing. He froze when he saw that JJ was just doodling in his notebook while John B. had JJ’s modified English worksheet in front of him and was hurriedly scribbling down the correct answers. 

“What are you doing?” Pope asked John B. 

JJ froze too before he felt his knee start to bounce uncontrollably. 

“What do you mean what am I doing? I’m trying to finish JJ’s work so we can all go fishing like you just asked.” John B. said, barely looking up as he finished and passed the worksheet back to JJ.

“JJ, what the fuck? You told me months ago that you were going to get a tutor. A real tutor, John B. Doing his work for him is hurting him, not helping him.” He interjected as he saw John B. open his mouth to defend himself. 

JJ felt extremely guilty and nervous and just tapped his pencil against the table and bounced his knee, avoiding looking at Pope. He hated being talked about like he was some stupid kid. He knew Pope was right, they had worked together on his goals and his projects and his homework for over two years together. Pope had always insisted that he was just there for support, but that JJ had to be the one to do the actual work. 

John B. tried to interrupt, “Woah, what’s the big deal, it’s just easi-”

“JJ? You called me and literally told me that you were gonna get help. Now you’re sitting here doing nothing while John B. does your work? You’re ruining all the progress we made!” Pope was angry and JJ felt even worse. He couldn’t help but lash out in return. He was so tired of being the stupid one that everyone had to help all the time. 

Before he knew what he was doing, JJ stood up and yelled at Pope. “I didn’t get a fucking tutor Pope! Do you know how embarrassing it is to be able to barely complete a worksheet when you are in ninth fucking grade? I’m so tired of being stupid, man! I just want to pass the ninth grade so I’m still with you guys and John B. is helping me with that. It’s bad enough that you two and all the teachers know that I’m dumb as shit, I don’t need some random snob from the math team looking down on me too! I didn’t ask John B. to do my work for me, but it’s just easier for everyone if he does!” He threw his hat that he had ripped off his head in anger on the ground and peeled out of the room, leaving a shocked Pope and John B. in the kitchen.

JJ was sitting at the end of the dock when he felt Pope sit down next to him ten minutes later. Pope put JJ’s hat back on his head, covering his eyes to get him to smile, but JJ couldn’t look at him yet. 

“I’m sorry, JJ. I shouldn’t have gotten mad at you. It’s not your fault. And I don’t know how many times I need to tell you, but having dyslexia doesn’t make you stupid. But it also doesn’t let you get away with doing no work and calling yourself names. I’m just upset that you’ve let yourself listen to what your dad says instead of focusing on how much progress you’ve actually made.” Pope said.

JJ was silent for a few more seconds, soaking in Pope’s words and deciding what to say back. 

“I’m trying, Pope, I really am. But it’s hard not to believe what I’ve been told for as long as I can remember. Even at school, the teachers are always struggling to find stuff that’s easy enough for me and it’s just embarrassing. It’s exhausting always having to try so hard when I see everyone else just moving on, no problem. I mean, John B. used to be in the same reading group as me as kids and now he’s breezing through my fourth grade assignments. It’s hard not to let it get to me and it was just easier to let John B. do my work. I’m just tired of it all.”

JJ felt a few tears of frustration fall down his face and he angrily scrubbed his face before pulling his hat lower to hide it from Pope. Great, now he was crying in front of him. As if this could get any more embarrassing.

JJ felt Pope wrap an awkward arm around his shoulders and he felt worse. He should be apologizing to Pope for ruining the progress they made and for making him drink with him that night. Instead he was crying and Pope was the one apologizing.

“I get it, JJ, I really do. I mean I don’t understand what it’s like for you and I never will, but I can understand how it must feel and I’m sorry. I should have never told you I couldn’t tutor you anymore. I should have understood then that getting a tutor from the school would be hard for you and I’m sorry.”

JJ wiped his eyes again and looked at Pope. He put his arm around him too and gave him a hug. Pope laughed when he said, “Does this mean you’ll tutor me again?”

“Duh. But first, fishing. And you better run because John B. was handling your lucky rod a few minutes ago.”

JJ shot up and went to run down the dock to the shed where they kept the fishing rods, but John B. was already walking towards them with the rods and bait. “Are you two done hugging it out? You ready to fish?” He said, as he threw the gear onto the boat. 

“We’re good. And you’re officially off tutoring duty. Let the professional handle this.” Pope said as he took the bait from John B. and jumped onto the boat with it. 

“Does this mean I still get fries?” John B. asked.

“You were paying him in fries?” Pope asked, looking at JJ with raised eyebrows. 

“That and dank nugs.” JJ shrugged back.

Pope shook his head and rolled his eyes, but he was smiling. “Oh my god, thank god I came when I did.”

“Awww, our little JJ doesn’t need me anymore.” John B. said, pinching JJ’s cheek. JJ slapped his hand and grabbed his lucky fishing rod out of John B.’s hand. 

“What the hell, John B. You know no one should touch my baby but me. You did that on purpose!” He dodged John B. when he tried to snatch it back and threw it down onto the Pogue before jumping onto the boat himself.

“I can’t confirm or deny. All I know is that I’m gonna get the biggest fish.”

“In your dreams, man. You know, you should try to worry more about your technique and less about if any girls are looking at you while you’re shirtless.”

“Oh, yeah? Is that what I do?” John B. said, throwing himself down into the boat. Pope and JJ looked at each other and tried not to laugh when he subconsciously started to unbutton his shirt.

“Yeah, man. Neither of you need to worry though because if we see any girls, they are all gonna be looking at me.” JJ said.

Pope and John B. both rolled their eyes and told him to keep dreaming. 

JJ started the boat and sped off, laughing when Pope and John B. both toppled over and yelled at him.

If only he could feel this good forever. Just him and his friends having fun, leaving their worries on the shore.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next chapter...Kooks infiltrate Kildare High during their annual "Service Week". And there will definitely be drama!


	9. It's On Sight

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Kooks infiltrate Kildare High for a "Service Week".....enough said.

In Kildare, there were only two high schools on the whole island. There was Kildare High School, the public school where everyone from The Cut went and then there was Kildare Prep Academy, where almost everyone from Figure Eight went, unless they were shipped off to boarding school.

JJ could never wrap his head around how much Kook parents would pay per year for their child’s tuition. He figures his dad gets away with spending less than a hundred dollars on him in an entire year. 

As part of Kildare Prep’s premise of “giving back” to the island, they held a service week every May at Kildare High School. 

It had probably been a good idea long ago when it was first created by some well meaning but misinformed Kook parents. But now it was really just a week where the school was infiltrated with condescending Kooks who were supposedly sent to help the poor “low income” school and its students from the other side of the island with their bags of money.

Most of the things they did during their service week actually did help the kids on The Cut, as much as they all hated to admit it. They donated flowers and fixed the outside of the school, they raised money and donated more school supplies than the school could dream of getting with its own sad budget and they had even donated all new computers to the library last year. 

The problem was that it was all done with strings attached. 

Every item received had a tag or sign or label that made sure Kildare High couldn’t forget that it was a pity donation. The new computers, the backpacks for every student, the textbooks. Even the flowers outside had signs in the dirt next to them. When JJ received his backpack full of supplies the morning of the first day of the service week and found he couldn’t remove the large tag stating “Donated by Kildare Preparatory Academy”, he had decided that he was better off without a new one. 

“How do you get this shit off?” He grunted as he tried to saw through the tag with the key to his dirt bike.

“You can’t. I swear they keep these on here just so that we feel like shit and remember that we are at the bottom of the food chain.” Pope said as he pulled at his tag. 

“Screw this. I would rather have no backpack than carry this charity piece around.” JJ tried to dump his in the nearest trash can, but John B. stopped him.

“Keep it, JJ. We can use my dad’s power saw when we get home and we’ll cut them off. They’re actually pretty nice.” He said, throwing his into his locker. 

Pope agreed and wrestled JJ’s from him as he lowered it threateningly towards the trash can again, smirking at John B. Pope grabbed it and threw it into John B.’s locker so that JJ couldn't get to it. 

JJ pouted before saying, “Man, this whole week is gonna suck. Why didn’t we save some of our ditch days just for this. Remind me to do that for next year.”

“JJ, you skipped at least a day every single week this year. I’m surprised it took them this long to catch up to your truant ass.” Pope said as he rolled his eyes.

“That’s not true, the first week I missed days because I wasn’t legally a student. That’s not skipping” JJ fired back. “I don’t see why they threatened me with retention anyways. If they really wanted me to improve my attendance, they should offer me a reward.”

“They aren’t going to reward you for coming to school, JJ. It’s literally something you have to do. Besides, you’ve had like two Winter Breaks combined with how many days you’ve missed. Why would they reward you? They should reward me for coming here every single day without fail.” Pope said.

“I don’t know, don’t nerds like coming to school? That’s your reward. School.” 

“John B. watch out for him with the Kooks today, man.” Pope said as he walked away from them to go to his honors history class. 

“No promises!” John B. called after him. 

JJ crossed his arms and leaned against the lockers, waiting for John B. to get his books from his locker before they walked down the hallway together. 

“You think Kie’s gonna be here?” John B. asked.

“Duh. All the Kooks are required to come. And yes, John B., Kie is a Kook. It’s been seven months now. Accept it and move on.”

“I wasn’t arguing. I just was wondering. Anyways, see you later, loser. Try to play nice with the Kooks!” John B. said as he turned into his math class.

JJ rolled his eyes before turning around and heading towards his English class. He could see the fancy buses that Kildare Prep use pulling up through the open front doors to the lobby . He would be lying if he said he didn’t almost turn around and skip class anyways, despite the threat of being held back. He didn’t know if he could get through this week without punching anyone. It was hard enough going to class without Kooks walking around like they owned the place. 

He went into his English class and went straight to the back, bumping fists with Jaden, who had been in the same English class as him since elementary school. He put his backpack on his desk, planning to use it as a pillow but didn’t get to enjoy it for more than a minute before his teacher, Mrs. Jefferson called him out.

“JJ, head up. You’ve missed way too many classes to be sleeping.”

JJ groaned and forced his head up. He slumped low in his seat instead and pulled out his notebook to draw in.

“Hopefully you all have your copies of Where the Red Fern Grows. I know you’ve been working hard on your papers and today we will have some special helpers available to help you with your drafts.”

JJ knew what she was going to say before she said it. 

“As you all know, today is the first day of Service Week and as part of that, you will be getting paired with a senior from Kildare Prep who will help you with your draft. It’s important that you let them help you with proofreading and rewrites and that you use them as a valuable source of knowledge, since your final draft is due on Friday.”

JJ’s stomach dropped. This was actually his nightmare. First off, he hadn’t read the book, listened to the book or done anything with the book except carry it back and forth between home and school for the past three weeks. With his IEP, he had comprehension questions to answer instead of a paper, but the idea of a Kook finding that out and “helping him” with that was one of his deepest fears. 

“Grab your stuff and line up and head to the cafeteria. We are going to meet the seniors who will be helping you in there so you all have space to spread out and work in peace.”

JJ was plotting how he could escape and somehow forge a sick note from his dad for the rest of the week as everyone else stood up. He knew he was screwed when Mrs. Jefferson stuck behind and decided to walk with him down to the cafeteria. She knew him too well.

“I know you don’t have a rough draft to work on per se, but I think this will be a really helpful experience for you, JJ. I hope you take it seriously and are thankful to the seniors for their time.”

JJ glared at the floor as he walked with his class. Why did this have to happen to him? Why couldn’t he go back in time and tell his stupid past self to just go to school so that he could have skipped this week?

As he and his class entered the cafeteria, they were put at a table in the corner while Mrs. Jefferson went to go meet with a Kook teacher to discuss how they would pair them up. JJ rested his head in his hand as he looked around the cafeteria at all of the Kooks that were getting their assignments for the day. He saw Kie immediately with a group of other students across the cafeteria. They were loading up carts with different flower pots and shovels so he assumed she was on gardening duty. As if flowers would make this place any better.

Kie saw him on her way out of the cafeteria and gave him a small wave and a forced smile. He moved his hand from where it was holding his head up and gave her a weak salute, but didn’t smile. He tried not to think about her but here she was in his school, making it beautiful in more ways than one. 

He looked over at the group of seniors they were supposed to work with and almost stood up and left when he saw Rafe smirking at him. He had forgotten Rafe was a senior and he sent up a silent prayer to anyone who was listening that he wasn’t paired with him. That would be an automatic suspension for fighting. He wouldn’t be able to hold back if Rafe was the one who was supposed to help him with his work.

Mrs. Jefferson read from the list and announced who they would be partnered with. JJ breathed a huge sigh of relief when she read off some random name with his. He and the random Kook went to a table and sat down. He put his head down and decided to try to sleep through the class, no matter how much the Kook might want to get started. 

“Hey man, mind if we switch partners? I already know JJ so I think it will be really helpful for him if we can work together.” JJ’s head shot up when he heard Rafe’s voice. The random Kook shrugged and went over to sit with Jaden across the room. He looked relieved to switch partners. 

“Nope. I’m not fucking working with you. It will end in murder. Your murder, not mine.” JJ said as he crossed his arms and scooted to the other side of the table. 

“Woah! Such an attitude. You should be thanking me for coming to your piece of shit school to offer my services to poor little needy Pogues like you.” Rafe said. He laughed when JJ scooted further down and put his head in his arms. JJ was not going to participate. He might not be able to physically leave the school but he was not going to work with Rafe on his remedial English project. They would have to kill him first. 

“Careful, JJ. I don’t want you to get in trouble, man. Your teacher is coming over here now.” Rafe taunted JJ.

JJ picked up his head and saw that Mrs. Jefferson was indeed walking towards them. She looked pissed. 

“JJ, pick your head up and scoot back down before I call your father. This nice young man is here to help.” She glared at JJ and JJ glared back before scooting back down halfway towards Rafe. He was embarrassed that her threat even worked and worked in front of Rafe, but it was the only way this day could get worse. 

“I’m going to sit with you boys until I see you have gotten off to a good start. JJ get your assignment out and show him what you’re working on.” Mrs. Jefferson said as she sat down next to Rafe.

JJ tried a different tactic. “He’s not even my partner, Mrs. Jefferson! He switched just to torture me.You’ve gotta give me that other guy back. I’ll work with him. I would love to work with him. He and I will whip this assignment right out. Just let me switch back, I’m begging you.” JJ said. He didn’t care if Rafe was smirking and if he looked pathetic for begging. He wasn’t even his partner. This was anarchy.

“JJ, stop. This nice boy traveled all the way here to help you. Now sit up and show him what you have to do.”

JJ shook his head and clenched his jaw and Mrs. Jefferson sighed and took his paper from him and explained it to Rafe. She explained how JJ had a different assignment than everyone else because his brain worked a little differently and that he should have listened to the book on tape so he should know the answers but would need support writing them. JJ stood up when she said that and got his backpack to leave. He couldn’t believe she had basically just revealed his deepest secrets and insecurities to his worst enemy.

“Is this even legal? Are you even allowed to share that shit? What the hell is this? I’m about to go off, Mrs. Jefferson. Don’t think I won’t.”

“JJ this is your last chance. If you don’t sit down and work on this for the next twenty minutes with him, I will be calling your dad and he can come sit next to you while you complete the assignment in the office. Your choice.” 

It was too much for JJ. All he did was come to school this morning and this is what happens? Part of him wanted to lie to her and tell her to go ahead and call his dad and that his dad wouldn’t be happy that she had just divulged the inner workings of his IEP to Rafe. But he knew she actually would call his dad and Luke wouldn’t care about anything but the fact that his day was interrupted by something JJ did. 

He was about to just make a break for it when he saw Pope walk past the cafeteria door on his way to the bathroom and then backtrack when he realized what was happening. He scanned over the situation and must have been able to guess enough because he mouthed at JJ for him to sit down and listen. He showed him how to take a deep breath and JJ took a few before sitting back down. They would definitely call his dad right now if he walked out. 

“That was a good choice, JJ. Now get started. Thank you for working with him, young man.” Mrs. Jefferson said as she got up and went to the next table. 

“My pleasure, ma’am. Happy to help. It’s why we are here.” Rafe said. JJ didn’t think his smirk could get any bigger. He looked up to see if Pope was still there and he was. He gave JJ a thumbs up before he walked away. 

“I’m still not working with you. We only have twenty minutes. They can’t make me. And you’re not allowed to tell anyone what she just told you. It’s against the law.” JJ said as he grabbed his assignment back. His hand was shaking and his face was burning with embarrassment. He was so angry. Angry at Mrs. Jefferson, angry at Rafe, angry at himself, and angry at the stupid Kook Academy for invading their school. 

“I’m pretty sure they can make you. You don’t want them to call your daddy, do you? And what are you going to do? It’s not like you and your piece of shit dad can afford a lawyer. What do you want to do? Sue me when I tell everyone how stupid you are and how you can’t read so you listen to books on tape? ” Rafe said back as he laughed at JJ. 

“If you say one more word to me, I swear to god, I’m going to knock all of your pearly white teeth out and then your little peach shirt won’t be peach anymore.” JJ said as he looked down at his paper. 

“Come on, JJ. Pass me your little paper and let me read it aloud to you.” Rafe laughed.

JJ flicked him off without looking up. “Careful, Rafe. You don’t want everyone finding out about how much you love clown porn.” He was staring at the paper and gripping his pencil but he could feel the blood pounding in his head. 

Rafe acted like he didn’t hear him. 

“I mean, damn JJ. I figured you were dumb as shit, but I didn’t know you were too stupid to even be in remedial English! Like your teacher has to make a whole new assignment just for you? That’s a whole new level of embarrassment. I guess it doesn’t really matter if you’re illiterate when you can just be a busboy for the rest of-”

Rafe was cut off by Pope’s voice. 

“Mrs. Jefferson, Mrs. Cooper needs to see JJ in her office.” Pope held the note out to her. Both Rafe and JJ looked over. JJ was already shoving his work into his backpack and practically running over to Pope. 

“Go on. But you will do your work tomorrow, JJ. You’re not in middle school anymore.” Mrs. Jefferson said.

JJ was already out of the cafeteria with Pope by the time she finished her sentence. 

He went around the corner and slid down the wall until he was sitting. He took some deep breaths and clenched and unclenched his fists. Pope slid down next to him and put a hand on his shoulder. 

“You alright, dude? What in the hell was happening in there? I looked in and you looked like you were about to K.O. Rafe and Mrs. Jefferson in one swoop.” Pope said as he looked at JJ with concern.

JJ squeezed his eyes shut and pushed back angry tears. He wasn’t going to let Rafe make him cry. He was too old for this, he told himself. 

“Thanks for getting me out, Pope. I owe you one, man. Does Mrs. Cooper actually need me?” He asked Pope without opening his eyes. 

“Nah. But I don’t think it would be a bad idea for you to go there and tell her what’s up. I’m sure she can help you out with this whole situation.” Pope suggested. JJ didn’t disagree, but he shrugged. He told Pope an abbreviated version of what had just happened and Pope put his arm around his shoulder. 

“Don’t listen to that asshole, JJ. As soon as school is out, we’ll get revenge. Better revenge than last time, I swear. He can’t just say that shit to you.” Pope was getting worked up too, so JJ stood up and helped him up.

“You better believe we will, Pope. Thanks again for saving me, man. I owe you one. I’m gonna go see Mrs. Cooper and see if she can get me out of this shit.” JJ said as he started to walk backwards toward the office. 

“You can work my shift on Saturday for me?” Pope suggested hopefully.

“Anything but that, Pope.” JJ called and he waved at Pope as he went into the office. 

Mrs. Cooper was able to save JJ after he explained the situation to her. He didn’t even have to fake tears or make up a story. He told the truth for one of the first times and he felt relieved when he was finished.

She promised that she would speak to Mrs. Jefferson for him and that he could spend the rest of the week working on his assignment in her office. She said she would love to work on it with him if she wasn’t needed elsewhere when he was in her office. JJ thanked her and she patted his shoulder and told him she was proud of him for coming to talk to her. 

He couldn’t help but feel slightly better after that. Even though he was humiliated and angry, he felt marginally less awful than he had thirty minutes ago. Maybe talking to adults could be helpful. But only Mrs. Cooper. 

_____________________________________________________________

Later that day, John B. surprised JJ and Pope by running all the way down Heyward’s dock where they were loading deliveries onto his boat and bending over with his hands on his knees catching his breath. 

JJ was still feeling pretty low from his day but joked, “Woah John B., you smell like drama. What’s up, man?”

John B. put one hand on JJ’s shoulder for support and tried to stand upright. 

“You. guys. are. not. gonna. believe. this.” He said, panting between each word. 

“Oh my god, just tell us! Tell us the drama, John B., we can’t handle it.” Pope did his terrible impression of a girl and JJ laughed. Pope smiled back at him.

“Well apparently…” John B. stopped and bent over to take off his shoe. He shook it and put it back on after a pebble fell out. 

“John B. Tell us right now before I push you into the water, bro.” JJ threatened, grabbing John B. by his shoulders and forcing him to focus.

“Okay, okay! Apparently, Madison heard from her brother’s girlfriend that Kie punched Rafe on their fancy bus on the way home. And apparently she’s been suspended!” John B. said. He looked at JJ and Pope for their reaction. 

JJ looked at Pope to see what he was thinking. They hadn’t had a chance yet to tell John B. what had happened at school today. JJ didn’t want to get his hopes up that Kie had been defending him, but he couldn’t help but suspect it. Although Rafe did do a lot of punchable shit.

He had probably just said something really sexist. Probably. Kie hated that. Or he had been making fun of JJ on the bus to anyone who would listen and Kie had punched him. Which JJ didn’t want to admit was just as likely. 

“What? Why are you looking at each other like that? What happened?” John B. asked. He made a “what the hell” face at them when they stayed silent. He held his hands up in the “what” gesture and said “Tell me!”

JJ gave him a brief rundown of the events from today. When he finished John B. said, “So we’re just gonna let him get away with that or…?”

“Of course not. We’re gonna get revenge of the worst kind but we are gonna wait till he’s out of our school so we don’t get in trouble there.” JJ said back. 

“So you guys are thinking Kie punched him because he was talking shit about you on the bus? Is that why you’re looking at each other?” John B. asked.

“I don’t know, man. But even if she did, it doesn’t make up for her ditching us. And it’s not like if she did it really means anything. She’s not gonna just come crawling back to us because she punched Rafe for me. I mean I’m sure he always does stuff that deserves a punch. Kie was probably just waiting till a good moment.” JJ said. 

“You don’t just get suspended for protecting someone unless you still care about them, JJ. Think about it. Let’s say that’s why Kie punched him. Why would Kie go so far as to actually punch Rafe? Because when she hears him talking about you, it makes her mad because she cares about you. Cares about us still.” Pope said. 

“I don’t care either way, dude. It’s not like I’m gonna go find Kiara and see why she punched him. I’m glad he got what he deserved but I don’t really care and I don’t need to know anymore.” JJ shrugged. 

John B. rolled his eyes and hopped onto Heyward’s boat. “Whatever man. All I know is, if Kie walked up to us right now and apologized and wanted to hang, I’d let her. No questions asked because once a Pogue, always a Pogue. Maybe she’s finally realizing she made a mistake.”

JJ and Pope put the last of the groceries on board and jumped on too. Pope started the boat and John B. put his arm around JJ and said so just he could hear. “And when I see Rafe next, it’s on sight. I’m gonna bash his face into the ground for you. Harder than Kiara. He’s not gonna even want to say your name again when I’m done with him.”

JJ cooed at him and tried to kiss him on the cheek. John B. pushed him away and he knocked over some of the groceries. 

Pope kicked them both off of the boat.

__________________________________________________________

JJ was alone on the beach as the sun set, avoiding going home. He felt more than heard someone coming up behind him. 

“Can I join you?”

He answered without looking at her.

“What do you want, Kie?” He asked, as she sat down on the driftwood next to him.

“We need to talk.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> She's baaaacckkk.....


	10. Four out of Four

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kie and JJ finally talk after seven months and revenge starts to go down at school between the Kooks and the Pogues.

"We need to talk."

JJ’s instinct was to say that he didn’t want to talk but he missed Kie so much, even after all of these months, that he found himself almost subconsciously scooting over to make room for her. He couldn’t help it. After what he had heard today from John B., he wanted to hear what she had to say and what had actually happened with Rafe. 

But even if she did punch Rafe for him, that didn’t mean they were anything close to friends again. JJ was sure that nothing Kie could do would make up for the pain that she caused when she abandoned them. 

“How are you?” Kie tried and JJ didn’t even have to look at her to know that she was giving him that concerned face that she did when one of them (usually him) said something a little too revealing about the reality of lives on The Cut.

JJ shrugged, kicking off his sandals so that he could draw lines in the sand with his toes. He wasn’t about to talk to his ex-friend about his embarrassing, no good, very shitty day. If she hadn’t abandoned him, abandoned them , she would already know how he was. 

The wind was blowing her hair around and he could smell her aloe shampoo. 

“Did you hear?” She said. Her voice was almost tentative, but JJ told himself not to feel bad for her. It was her fault that she had to feel tentative in the first place. JJ shrugged again, knowing it would infuriate her. Seven months away or not, he knew that his silence would get to her fast. He smirked and looked away so she wouldn’t see it when he heard her take a deep breath to keep herself calm. She used to tell him to try that when he would get pissed.

“JJ….” She said, but she left it dangling in the air. JJ was curious what she had to say after all this time, but he wasn’t planning on making it easier. He turned and looked at her for the first time since she had sat down. 

She was the same old Kie, there was no doubt about that, but she was also different in so many ways.

She was wearing an oversized zip up hoodie and the same type of denim shorts she had been wearing last year, but there were changes. Like how she was wearing makeup and a lavender crop top under the hoodie and how she had replaced the string bracelets that used to cover her wrists with silver bracelets with charms. Like how the hoodie said Kildare Prep instead of Billabong. Like how her nails were painted with shiny lavender polish instead of the usual chipped blue paint she had on them. 

JJ felt his heart tighten when he saw that she was still wearing the sailor knot bracelet they all four had been wearing since the seventh grade. It doesn’t mean anything, he told himself. 

He looked back at his toes. He spelled his name in the sand before erasing it with his other foot. 

“If you’re looking for someone to talk to, I think you got lost on your way to Kookville. Tannyhill is on the other side of the island.” He said, scowling at the reminder of Rafe. 

“I know what you’re trying to do, JJ. And it isn’t going to work. I’m not going to just walk away if you stonewall me and call me a Kook.”

JJ felt his temper flare. “I’m not trying to do anything except have some peace and quiet away from Kooks. And you’re ruining that."

“Screw you, JJ. I’m not going anywhere until you talk to me.” Kiara said. He saw her plant her feet deeper into the sand. She definitely wasn’t feeling tentative anymore.

JJ took his blunt from behind his ear and put it in his mouth. He stood up and pulled his lighter out from the pocket of his shorts. 

“Spoken like a true Kook. Demanding that I talk to you instead of listening to what I’m saying. I. don’t. want. to. talk.”

“You know what? Fine. If you don’t want to talk then I’ll leave. I’m not going to sit here and take this. By the way, you’re welcome.” Kie said as she stood up too.

“Oh, I’m welcome? So because you decided to make yourself feel better for abandoning us by punching Rafe, I’m just supposed to forgive you and get down on my knees and thank you? While I’m down there, should I thank you for the shiny new backpack and the tulips your Kook money brought to our piece of shit school?” 

JJ blew a smoke ring towards her face when he was done talking and she reached up to fan it away. He flinched back and tried to pretend it was just him putting his lighter away, but of course she noticed. She froze and he took a step back, angry at himself for reacting that way. It was just Kie. It’s not like she was going to hit him, even if he was being a dick.

Kiara bit her lip and dropped her hand before sitting back down on the driftwood, resting her chin in her hands. JJ looked at her for a minute before he sat down next to her, but waited to see if she would say anything in her defense.

“I didn’t just punch Rafe for you, you know. I also punched him because he commits crimes against humanity in general on a daily basis. And fashion. Who wears an all peach outfit?” Kie said. Her voice was muffled by her hand but JJ heard and couldn’t help but smile. He looked away again so she wouldn’t notice.

He held the blunt out to Kie and he felt her turn and look at him before taking it. It doesn’t mean we’re friends, he thought. It’s just weed. He'd practically share it with a stranger if they looked sad.

The sad part was that Kie was basically a stranger. But she was also so familiar that it made his heart ache for everything to go back to normal. 

“Thanks. For punching him. But this doesn’t mean anything Kiara. I mean, don’t get me wrong, I appreciate you taking one for the team and fucking him up and I’m sorry you won’t be at our shitty school tomorrow to help us charity cases but it doesn’t just erase the past seven months.”

Kiara was silent for a second before she answered. 

“It’s not true. Whatever he said to you. It’s not true. And I know you won’t believe me. But it’s the truth. Don’t let that douchebag get to you.” Kie said as she took a hit and passed it back to him.

JJ’s stomach twisted as he felt the burning humiliation from earlier creep back up. Kie knew enough about JJ’s struggles with reading and writing and school in general from being his friend since the sixth grade. She knew Pope had been tutoring him and she knew that he had dyslexia. But they hadn’t ever really talked about it before. To think that not just Kiara but a whole bus full of random Kooks had heard Rafe talking about it today was too much.

To talk about it with her, now, after everything that had happened didn’t just feel out of place, it felt empty and wrong. 

He started to get angry again. Angry at Kie, because he was so angry with her for everything that had happened this year and how it had happened. Angry at Rafe, of course, for obvious reasons. Angry at Mrs. Jefferson, for being a power tripping asshole. But the anger at himself was the strongest. He was so angry at himself for so many reasons. 

He was angry at himself for being stupid, for having Dyslexia, for letting it affect his life in so many ways, for going to school today, for going into the cafeteria, for not punching Rafe as soon as he had opened his mouth. 

He clenched his fists and blew another smoke ring, looking away from Kie again. He tensed when he felt her lay her hand on top of his. He let it lay there a second too long, letting himself imagine that things could go back to normal with Kie. He shook it off and stood up. 

He didn’t look at her as he grabbed his old backpack from where it laid in the sand and put it on his back. He picked up his sandals and paused, still not looking at Kie. 

“I’ve got to head home.”

JJ walked away. He didn’t need to turn around to know that Kiara was staring after him and to know what look she would have on her face. They weren’t friends anymore so it didn’t matter. 

It didn’t make it any easier to walk away.  
________________________________________________________________________  
JJ felt shitty the next day at school and was uncharacteristically quiet on the way to school. John B. didn’t push him to talk on the bus ride and just talked enough for the both of them. JJ spent first period with Mrs. Cooper like she had promised and she even came to get him directly from Mrs. Jefferson’s class. He loved her for that. Mrs. Jefferson shot evil eyes at him as they walked out together. He shot them back when Mrs. Cooper wasn’t looking. 

He and Mrs. Cooper passed Rafe’s Kook class as they went past the cafeteria to her office. He flipped Rafe off since Mrs. Cooper didn’t seem like she was looking. He also did the universal throat slitting motion at him but stopped when Mrs. Cooper put her hand on his shoulder and told him to keep it appropriate at school. He only stopped because it was her asking. He could hear Rafe laughing at him.

When they were in her office, she told him that how he was feeling was understandable and normal considering what had happened, but that she didn’t want to see him get in trouble for taking his revenge too far. He promised her that he wasn’t going to get revenge and kept his fingers crossed under the table so it didn’t count.

He asked if he could stay with her for the day so he wasn’t tempted to seek revenge and she said he could, as long as he did his work. He agreed and threw himself down at her table. She helped him with his assignments on and off all day. They had lunch together and she told him a story about when she had a fight in high school. He told her she was a badass and she said she believed in standing up for yourself, but doing it peacefully.

It took until the last period of the day before her walkie talkie started blaring, asking for help breaking up a fight and she had to rush off. 

He sighed and put his assignment down before pulling out his fidget spinner and practicing some tricks. He ate some candy from the jar on her desk and tried to talk himself out of “going to the bathroom” so that he could see who was fighting.

Turns out, he didn’t have to talk himself out of it because he heard the aftermath coming right towards him. 

He realized they were coming into Mrs. Cooper’s office so he spit out the jolly rancher into her trash can and ran back to the table to pretend that he had been working. 

“John B.? Dude! What happened?” He couldn’t help saying when his best friend entered the room, looking rumpled up, but proud. 

He stopped talking when John B. was followed in by the principal, Mrs. Winters and the gym teacher, Mr. Sanchez, who was always automatically called when there was a fight because their school was sexist and thought only men could break up fights. 

“Sit.” Mrs. Winters said to John B., pointing at the chair next to JJ at the table. John B. shrugged and sat next to JJ. He gave JJ a look that told him everything he needed to know about what had happened as well as a not so secret thumbs up that clearly meant “mission accomplished”. 

“I wouldn’t be giving any thumbs ups right now, John Routledge. Fighting one of our guests and throwing donated supplies is nothing to be proud of. We are calling your dad and you will be suspended.” Mrs. Winters was pissed.

JJ couldn’t have been prouder of John B. by the time she finished talking. He laughed and beamed at him and John B. smiled proudly back.

“You threw the Kooks little gifts?” He asked John B. and John B. laughed but didn’t answer since Mrs. Winters was glaring at him. 

“Alright, alright, alright! That’s what I’m talking about, bro!”

“We can call your house too, JJ.”

That shut JJ up too, but he was still smiling. 

Five awkward minutes later, Officer Porter popped in and gestured for Mrs. Winter to come with him so she left after glaring at them one more time. Mr. Sanchez practically ran back to the gym as soon as she left. 

JJ wondered if Mr. Sanchez realized that he just left them alone. He probably did and just didn’t care. All the guy cared about was football and getting ready for the season. Even when it was Spring. 

“Dude, what the hell happened? What’d you do? Did you knock him out? Did you make him lose a tooth? Did he cry? Did you thro-”

“JJ! Shut up! Let me speak!” John B. waved his arms and shushed JJ, which normally would piss him off but he did shut up because he wanted to hear what John B. had done. 

He looked over his shoulder at the door before he said, “So, I’m walking to the bathroom, right, and I see him. He’s wearing this really ugly lime green getup with matching plaid shorts by the way. The dude has no style. And he of course walks right over to me. So I stop because obviously I’m going to get some revenge for yesterday no matter what he says. So he says some shit about you and-” 

John B. cuts himself off when Pope of all people is brought into the office by Mrs. Winters and Officer Porter. She puts him in the chair on the other side of the table, across from John B. and JJ. JJ can see that Pope’s face is red on one side and he hopes he managed to land a punch on whatever Kook he was fighting. He was very proud. 

And very jealous that both of his friends got to punch Kooks. 

“Disappointed doesn’t even begin to cover it. Did y’all plan this? Why is it that I get alerted that there are two different fights, physical fights, happening in our hallways within ten minutes of each other? I am so embarrassed. I hope you are too. Mrs. Cooper and I are going to be dealing with Kildare Prep’s parents all day setting this right! These are guests in our school, here to improve it for you so you have a nice learning environment and this is how you treat them?”

“To be fair, Mrs. Winters, they aren’t really here to help. They’re here to wave their money in our faces and make us feel like sh- crap.” JJ barely stopped himself from cussing. 

Mrs. Winters looked over at him like she forgot he was there. 

“I don’t know why you are in here, JJ, but while you are waiting for Mrs. Cooper to come back, you can either stay silent or you can go back to class. Your friends are in serious trouble and if I find out you had anything to do with it, so are you.”

JJ blinked at her and gave her an innocent face. She turned back to Pope and John B. and pointed at them.

“You are both going to wait right here, absolutely no talking. When your parents get here, I will bring them in and we are going to talk about all of this and your consequences.”

She left the three of them in Mrs. Cooper’s office with Officer Porter standing guard. JJ was almost tempted to go back to class, because even if it wasn’t him having his dad called, he knew the feeling too well to want to experience it, even second hand. But he decided to stay with his friends as long as he could in solidarity. Even if he couldn’t talk to them.

JJ pretended to do his work but really just drew a picture of Pope knocking out a Kook with a question mark next to it. He discreetly turned it so they both could see and Pope mouthed “Topper” back to JJ. That made sense. JJ drew a thumbs up.

Twenty five minutes later, both Big John and Heyward came into the office, followed by Mrs. Winters. Heyward glared at Pope and Pope looked ashamed. Big John looked neutral and JJ couldn’t blame him. He was sure that he probably would support John B. punching Rafe if he knew the situation. 

JJ felt kind of guilty that his friends were getting in trouble just for defending him. 

“JJ, you need to go back to class. Mrs. Cooper isn’t going to be free for a while.” Mrs. Winters said to him. She had on her nice voice now that parents were in the room so JJ decided to push her buttons. 

“But I need help. Mrs. Cooper said she was gonna help me with my assignments all day today. She promised.” He laughed internally when he saw Mrs. Winter’s jaw clench.

“Sweetie, Mrs. Cooper is busy. I’m sure she can help you tomorrow.” Mrs. Winters gave him a tight, fake smile. 

“But she promised.” JJ said, giving Mrs. Winters his best sad face. He knew she saw right through it, but that’s what was so funny. She wasn’t working in a fancy mainland school yet and she had to look good in front of the parents. She couldn’t exactly yell at him to leave the guidance counselor’s office with everyone watching. 

“He’s gonna need the help too because Pope sure ain’t gonna be helping him anytime in the next few weeks.” Heyward cut in. He was glaring at Pope and JJ was torn between laughing and feeling guilty about Pope. Heyward was so predictable. 

Mrs. Winters didn’t know how to respond to that, but Big John of all people decided to speak up. 

“I’ll take you home with us when we’re done here, JJ. John B. can help you as part of his sentence, how about that?” 

John B.’s eyes bugged out and JJ could tell he was being haunted by his not too distant memories of rushing through JJ’s worksheets. 

JJ almost laughed because he and Mrs. Cooper had actually gotten through most of his work for the week so John B. wouldn’t be needed in any capacity. But he decided to go along with it because it was funny to torture John B. 

“That would be great. I need all the help I can get. Thanks, John B.” JJ said, smiling at his friend. 

John B. rolled his eyes. He knew JJ was full of bullshit. 

“Alright, well it sounds like you can just go and wait in the office for us to finish then, JJ.” Mrs. Winters said awkwardly. 

JJ shrugged and got his backpack and left. "Sounds like it."

He decided that he would rather go on an extended bathroom break than go sit in the office in a plastic chair with Mrs. Miller glaring at him. 

He told her he would be right back and that he was going to the bathroom, letting the office door slam shut behind him as she answered. Whatever. 

As he left the office and the door slammed in the silent front lobby of the school, he got to see the aftermath of his friends' handiwork. 

Rafe, Mr. Cameron, Topper and his mom were all standing by the front doors to the school with Mrs. Cooper and who JJ assumed was some important Kook teacher or principal. He smirked when he saw that Rafe had a shiner. He wondered if it was from Kie or John B. 

He saw the damage that John B. must have done during his fight with Rafe right away because there were tennis balls everywhere. The stupid Kooks must have brought them as a donation, assuming that their school could afford to actually have a tennis court. He also noticed that the huge bin full of the tags that said “Donated by Kildare Preparatory Academy” had been knocked over. JJ couldn’t have picked better items to throw at Rafe. He needed to thank John B. again later. 

He owed that dude a lot of his best weed and candy. 

All six of them turned to look at him due to the noise of the door and JJ almost would have gone back in the office if he didn’t think the whole thing was so funny. Everyone but Mrs. Cooper was glaring at him. It actually was funny so he let out a laugh. 

“JJ, go back to the office, please.” Mrs. Cooper said across the lobby to him. 

“I’m just going to the bathroom, Mrs. Cooper. No worries.” 

“Go ahead.” She said back. JJ could see she was on edge and felt bad for her. Having to deal with the death squad and their parents is basically the nightmare.  
She turned back to her heated conversation with the parents and the Kook principal. Topper was sitting in one of the chairs they had for visitors and was texting, but JJ could see that he had a bruise on his cheek. He was so proud of the Pogues. He wished he could have landed a punch. 

He didn’t have to wish for long. He went into a stall and pulled out his vape. He took a few drags because he was bored and he knew Officer Porter was busy in the office and everyone was in class. 

He came out of the stall and was actually surprised to see Rafe there, waiting for him. Mrs. Cooper must have been really distracted if she didn’t see this coming. 

“Nice shiner, bro. So you’ve been punched by two of my friends and your boy Topper has been punched by the third? You going for four out of four?” JJ said, leaning against the stall and smirking at Rafe. 

“I know you can't read, but you can’t add either, JJ? Can you do anything? Kiara’s not your friend.” Rafe laughed. He looked JJ up and down and walked over to the bathroom door.

JJ was surprised that he was making the move to leave, right after coming in. He figured he had to get back before his Kook dad and principal noticed and he got into trouble. 

He clenched his jaw at Rafe’s insults and cursed himself for counting Kiara as a friend. It was still an instinct. 

“Come over here and say that to my face.” His voice was low and angry and he saw Rafe pause before he tried to cover it up. 

“I would but that would mean getting close to you and I think stupid is contagious. You probably have fleas too. I mean are there even washing machines on The Cu-”  
JJ charged him and punched him as hard as he could in the mouth. The bathroom door swung out with the force of them hitting it and everyone in the lobby looked over again. 

“Oh my god!” Mrs. Thornton yelled. Mrs. Cooper ran over, calling for Officer Porter on her walkie talkie for back-up. 

JJ couldn’t stop himself, he kept hitting Rafe over and over again in his smug face until Officer Porter ran over and hauled him off of him. Rafe groaned from the floor and JJ felt some sick satisfaction in finally getting to get back at him.

“You can kiss your life goodbye, kid! You’ll be lucky if we don’t press charges!” Ward yelled at JJ as he helped Rafe up. He started to walk him towards the front door to the school. 

“I don’t know what kind of school this has become, but we are clearly not going to be able to continue our charitable work here for the duration of the week. Two of my students have been assaulted by these thugs you call students? One of them has been attacked twice in one day. Your school will be hearing from our school’s attorneys if we find any lasting damage to Mr. Cameron.” The Kook principal said as she ushered Topper and his mom out after the Camerons. 

Mrs. Cooper looked like she wanted to cry, which was the only reason JJ felt a little guilty. He had no regret though. 

Officer Porter dragged JJ into the office and shoved him into a chair right as John B., Big John, Heyward and Pope came out of Mrs. Cooper’s office with Mrs. Winters. Officer Porter explained what had happened to her and JJ thought her eyes were going to pop out of her sockets. 

“I knew I should have called your house earlier, JJ. Come with me. Now.” She gestured with her finger for him to come to her office. He smirked at her and tried to push down his terror. He didn’t get up.

“JJ. Now. I’m not asking you again.”

He kept sitting and refused to get up, officially feeling nervous until he felt a hand on his shoulder. 

"JJ, go with her son. Y'all need a lesson in listening." Heyward said, looking resigned. 

JJ shook his head and Mrs. Winters looked like she wanted to scream.

“You know what? You go ahead and call his dad and let him know, but I’ll sign him out for the day and get him home. That will save you all some time to deal with this mess and I promise I’ll give him the no fighting lecture in the car.” Big John said to Mrs. Winters.

JJ was surprised that Big John was offering to take him. He knew he wouldn’t actually take him home and was just saying that. He didn't think that Big John had been to his house more then three times in six years so it would be weird to start now. He usually didn’t step in and interfere in JJ situations. Then again, he knew enough about Luke to know how he would react if he had to come in. He was probably trying to make up for John B.'s behavior by saving the school from Luke. 

“Fine. Thank you. But I am calling home, JJ. And you are suspended for the rest of the week.” Mrs. Winters glared at him before walking to her office and slamming the door. 

Heyward said. “All of you are crazy. Good luck with that one, Big John. Pope, say bye to your friends for the next month because y’all need an extended break until you can learn how to act.”

He and Pope left and John B. and JJ waited while Big John signed them both out. Mrs. Miller didn’t even check to see if he had permission to take JJ. Figures. She would probably be happy if he was kidnapped. Less work for her. 

“Thanks for signing me out, Big John. Really appreciate it. Luke would have freaked out.” JJ felt the adrenaline coming up as he bounced down the front steps to the school.

“He should freak out. You know, I let a lot slide with you and John B. over the years, but I agree with Heyward and your principal here. You are too old to be getting suspended for fighting. In a few years, that would be an arrest.” Big John said as he walked to his side of the car. 

“Dad, it’s not that serious. I only punched him once and it was because he was mocking JJ for-” John B. cut himself off and looked to the backseat where JJ was sitting with slightly crazy eyes. “For shit and he’s a douche. So I punched him. I was defending my friend’s honor. No big deal.”

JJ relaxed back into his seat. 

“I don’t care, John B. Use your words instead like they taught you in elementary school. This can’t happen again. What would have happened if I had been away for work when they called?” Big John said as he drove them away from the school. 

“So that’s why you care. Because you don’t want DCS or some shit being called on you for going away all the time. Not because I was fighting.” John B. said back angrily. JJ stared out his window, feeling awkward. He felt like he was intruding on something private. 

“That’s not true and you know it, Bird. I’m saying-”

JJ drowned them out as they drove, worried about how his dad was going to react. He had been in a slightly better mood the past few weeks, even though JJ didn’t know why. Maybe he would get lucky and his dad wouldn’t care that he had been suspended if he told him who he had punched. His dad did hate the Camerons. 

When Big John pulled onto his street, JJ freaked out. He couldn’t even try to hide it. He didn't think he would actually drive him home. He must have really been focusing on his conversation with John B. 

“Woah, Big John, you can just stop right here. No need to get closer. My dad is redoing the driveway and if you drive down it, you won’t be able to get out again.”  
Big John stopped the car and let JJ out, too focused on his fight with John B. to remember that JJ’s driveway is made of dirt. 

JJ climbed out of the backseat, briefly clapping John B. on the shoulder before waving at their car as they turned around and sped off down his road. 

He squatted down on the side of the dirt road and dug through his backpack to see how much money he had. He smiled when his hand felt the fifty dollars he had left from his paycheck. 

He snuck down his driveway and grabbed his dirtbike, walking it silently into the woods by his house. Thankfully, his dad didn’t see. He probably wasn’t even awake.

JJ started it up once he was far enough away and popped a wheelie as he rode towards the dock to buy three ferry tickets for tomorrow morning. If John B. and Pope were suspended because of him, the least he could do was sneak them out and treat them to a day at the boardwalk on the mainland, free of charge. 

What were friends for?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Up next...time for a wild day out for the boys...and Kie will be coming back slowly. Big John is starting to disappear more and more and we are finishing freshman year. 
> 
> Sophomore year is going to be insane! Kie will return, Big John will disappear, there will be drama, there will be good times and bad times.
> 
> I am going to cover their sophomore year in this story and then am thinking of doing a sequel that takes place right after the show ends, but we will see! Would anyone like to read that? Let me know what you think and thanks for reading!


	11. Pogues Go Rogue

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Pogues have a reunion...but someone isn’t happy about it.

JJ went to John B.’s window once the sun set and climbed in, holding up the ferry tickets like a stack of cash at him. John B. shook his head and smiled before grabbing one.

“I really should know by now not to listen to you. But I sure as hell am not saying no to an all expenses paid vacation to the mainland!”

JJ smirked. He knew John B. would agree. They used to go there all the time and hadn’t been once this year. It was convincing the golden boy that would be the hard part.

“If by all expenses paid you mean I paid for the ferry, then hell yeah. But you’re paying for food. So, pull out your fancy phone and text Pope. We ride at dawn.”

“JJ, I literally have a used iPhone 3 that barely works.” John B. said, but he pulled it out and started to text Pope the plan.

“A what now? I’m sorry but I thought I just heard you say iPhone. Some of us are over here having to actually ride to each other’s houses and sneak into their windows just to communicate. You’re living in the future John B.”

John B. rolled his eyes and JJ threw himself down on his bed next to him, making them both bounce.

“JJ stop. I can’t text him when you’re bouncing everywhere!”

JJ stopped bouncing and sat up, putting his elbow on John B.’s shoulder and looking at his texts. 

“Did he answer?”

“I sent it ten seconds ago. No, he didn’t answer.”

JJ tried to grab John B.’s phone from him but he pushed him off. JJ shrugged and went over to John B.’s shelf and started touching his stuff, just to annoy him.

“Did the school reach your dad?” John B. asked. JJ didn’t answer and grabbed John B.’s slinky from the fifth grade and started playing with it. 

“JJ? Break that and you die. That’s a relic.”

“This piece of shit? You literally got this from Ms. Daley’s treasure box because you cried when Hannah beat you during a review game.”

John B. didn’t answer because he was back to texting. JJ threw the slinky across the room and it wrapped around John B.’s neck. He did a cheer but John B. didn’t even seem to notice. JJ was glad he didn’t have a phone because he was actually present in the moment. 

“So is he in or not?” JJ said, walking back over to John B. and looking over his shoulder.

“I’m working on it. He’s trying to say the usual. That if he gets caught, he’ll die because Heyward will kill him blah blah blah. But I told him he’s already suspended so he might as well have fun.” John B. said without looking up. 

“As if Heyward would kill anyone. Tell him he isn’t gonna get caught because his parents will be at work all day. We’ll be back before they even notice.” JJ said, grabbing the slinky from John B’s neck.

John B. slapped his hand away and said, “Ok, he’s in. But he’s probably gonna be a drama queen about it until he’s tucked back into his house again.”

“Wouldn’t expect anything less, bro.”

______________________________________________________________

JJ began the night sleeping in John B.’s bed next to him, since he couldn’t sleep in the living room in case Big John saw (the drama from school was too fresh). They quickly realized that they both couldn’t fit in his bed without it being weird so he ended up sleeping on the floor and using John B.’s dirty clothes as a pillow. John B. was gracious enough to throw a blanket over him. It wasn't The Marriott, but JJ could sleep anywhere. 

They went to the dock at eight thirty and waited for Pope. 

Pope was super dramatic just like they had thought he would be and came wearing a hoodie, pulled up over his head and wearing sunglasses. 

“Come on, Pope! Hurry up! You’re late to our probably illegal self guided field trip to the mainland. Pope Heyward! Hurry up!” JJ yelled and waved his arms just to embarrass him. Everyone turned and looked at him and then at Pope. 

John B. and JJ laughed when Pope booked it towards them. 

“Shut up, JJ! I shouldn’t even be here right now!” Pope pulled his hood lower and tried to hide behind them, looking around as if his dad was on the dock at eight am instead of at his job. 

“Literally no one cares that you snuck out, dude. Loosen up. Now let’s ride!” JJ and John B. ran over to the ticket desk and ran onto the ferry once their tickets had been ripped. Pope followed behind quickly, not wanting to be seen.

“I’m officially on the dark side.” Pope said, pulling them into the indoor seats so they wouldn’t be seen from the dock.

“Welcome” JJ said back. He held his vape out to him but Pope pushed it away.

“Alright boys, what should we do first when we get there? Because I don’t know about you, but I am starving so I say we start with the funnel cakes and work our way up to the hot dogs and fries. And then we ride the rides until Pope pukes.” John B. said, stretching.

“It’s eight in the morning, John B.” JJ said, laughing at him.

“And your point..?”

“You’ve got the order all wrong. It’s hot dogs, soda, funnel cake, rides, Pope pukes and then fries.” JJ said.

“I’m definitely gonna die today.” Pope confirmed, finally removing his hood. 

JJ threw his arm around Pope’s shoulder and said, “Pope, you are literally going to have an all expense paid vacation. All we ask of you is that you loosen up and enjoy it. None of this, I’m gonna die or my dad’s gonna kill me shit. Enjoy your reward for punching Topper.” 

“I shouldn’t have punched Topper, JJ. His car is worth more than my house. They are probably gonna sue me or something. And besides, I don’t condone violence.” Pope said, but he loosened up as the ferry started to make noise. 

“Violence is the only way to solve most of your problems. And look what happened! You punched a Kook and now you get a free day out with your best friends!”

“John B., tell him he’s wrong.” Pope said, trying to turn to John B. for backup.

“I will not. He’s completely right. We knocked them out and now they know better than to bother us and we are on our way to paradise aka the boardwalk for a reward day.” John B. said as he and JJ did their secret handshake.

“I’m doomed.” Pope said, as he slouched lower on the bench.

JJ opened his mouth to reply, laughing, when Pope cut him off, looking across the room. “Kie?!?”

JJ froze. 

“What are you doing here?” Pope asked and walked over to meet her in the middle of the deck. 

JJ looked at John B. instead of Kie to see how they were going to handle this and noticed him already looking at him guiltily and immediately went on guard. 

“John B. Tell me that you did not invite Kie on our trip. Because that would ruin the entire point and be a complete and utter betrayal.” JJ said, feeling himself getting worked up. 

“Relax, JJ. I may have texted Kie and invited her last night. I mean, she punched Rafe and got suspended just like us! That has to mean something. And I miss her. And obviously she misses us if she came. I didn’t think she would show up. So suck it up, buttercup.” John B. pinched JJ’s cheek and got up and walked over to where Pope and Kie were talking. 

JJ crossed his arms and scowled. He realized he could just get off the boat but as soon as he stood up, they heard the horn and he knew it was too late. He walked outside to the deck to see if he could jump in. 

“JJ, come over here and stop being dramatic.” Pope called to him. They had followed him outside.“It’s just Kie.”

JJ felt his anger flare up at that. Just Kie. As if that wasn’t the exact reason why her abandonment had hit him so hard. He looked back at them and saw that Kie had a bandana around her head just like he did so he pulled his down and put it around his neck instead. Petty, but it felt good.

His hair blew into his eyes as he walked over towards them. “It’s not just Kie. I’m tired of everyone saying that. It’s just Kiara the Kook now. And she was not and is not invited on our Pogues go Rogue day out.”

He walked over to a bench outside instead of inside and sat down with his arms crossed. He wanted to smoke really badly but knew he would get banned from using the ferry ever again.

They all walked over to him. He scooted away. He knew he was acting like a kid but he didn’t care. After his horrible week, this was supposed to be their day to blow town and just do whatever they wanted. 

They sat down close by but Kiara stayed standing and said, “John B., what the hell? You texted me and told me everyone was cool with this. Clearly everyone isn’t. Emphasis on the everyone.”

John B. didn’t answer but tried to do a “sorry, don’t kill me” face at Kiara. 

JJ couldn’t roll his eyes any harder. It was such typical John B. to just try to lie his way through and assume it would smooth itself out. 

“John B., you know what I should do? I should make your ass pay for all of our tickets, our food and the rides, man. You always do this! You make decisions without asking us. And now you fucked up our entire day.” JJ said, kicking the bench across from him and avoiding looking at any of them. 

“Hey, first of all, our day isn't fucked up. And it’s not just me. I mean come on guys. We are all here because we punched Rafe. That has to count for something, right? Or Topper, I know, Pope. Relax. And we are all suspended so that’s something else we have in common. And we all used to be best friends. Kie wants to hang out again and I say we need to forgive and forget. Pogues forever, baby.” John B. said. 

Kiara smiled at him even though she was also rolling her eyes. 

Pope smiled at them too. “I mean you have a point. And Kie did say she was sorry about a million times through text. That counts for a lot. I agree with John B. Welcome back, Kie.”

“I’m sorry. Welcome back, Kie? First of all, I don’t care if she texts or says a million apologies. You can’t just abandon your friends and come crawling back when you get bored. I mean aren’t you wondering why she’s back all of the sudden? Obviously the Kooks don’t want her and now she’s back to her second choice! Second of all, some of us don’t have fancy phones that we can use to just type meaningless apologies. How long have you traitors been communicating with each other behind my back?”

“A few days.” Pope said at the same time that John B. said “A week.” 

JJ scooted further away from them and laid down on the bench. He wasn’t going to participate in John B.’s evil plan. And if Kiara didn’t take the ferry straight back, he was going to. 

“JJ, that’s part of the reason why I found you on the beach the other day to apologize. I know you don’t have a phone and it wasn’t some sneaky plan behind your back. It was just easier to talk to Pope and John B. since they have phones.” Kiara said to JJ.

“It’s funny because I don’t remember you actually apologizing to me on the beach.” JJ said, picking his head up and raising his eyebrows at her. 

“You walked away before I could!” Kiara said. He could tell she was getting angry. 

“You know what? I’m glad you guys have it all figured out and are ready to just pretend this year never happened, but I’m not. And I’m not ever going to forget. So if you’re not leaving, I’m gonna leave. And I’ll go off by myself and get really high and forget this ever happened.”

“JJ, you’re not leaving. You can be mad all you want but I’m not sorry I did it and I won’t apologize. Now shut up and deal with it. We’re going to the boardwalk and we’re gonna have fun!” John B. said and he sat down next to JJ, shoving his feet off the bench to make room for himself. 

Kiara and Pope looked at each other nervously, but let John B. handle JJ. They did have a special connection. If anyone could get JJ to stay, it was John B. They tentatively sat down on the bench across from them. 

JJ huffed angrily and kicked John B. but shut up. He was going to stay because he was here first, but he wasn’t going to be happy about it. 

______________________________________________

The four of them went straight to the food when they got there, all already starving. The food stalls were just opening for the people who were willing and ready to eat hot dogs and funnel cakes for brunch. 

JJ ordered way more food than even he could eat, just so that John B. would have to pay for it. John B. paid for it without comment, so JJ knew he was feeling at least a little guilty. Good.

Pope, Kiara and John B. caught up together while they ate, while JJ stayed silent and wolfed down his food. 

They played the boardwalk games and JJ insisted on playing the water gun game until he won one of the stuffed animals. He picked a stuffed panda because he knew they were Kie’s favorite and then threw it in the trash in front of her. He almost felt guilty when he saw the hurt look on her face. That was something someone like his dad would have done. 

He made up for it by letting her hit him extra hard with the bumper cars. She cussed him out as she banged into him, laughing. She looked like she wanted to apologize after, when she realized that she couldn’t do that anymore. He slammed into her to let her know he didn’t care about her shit talking. 

John B. made them all squeeze into a photo booth and take pictures. JJ refused but John B. pulled him inside and pinned him down. He made sure not to smile in any of them so they knew he was mad. 

Pope freaked out when it hit two o’clock and claimed he had to get back immediately. He ran off to get them return tickets and JJ dared John B. to go hotbox in the port-a-potty. He refused and the three of them snuck into a back alley and smoked a blunt. JJ didn’t share with Kie so John B. snatched it and passed it to her. 

“Are you sure Kooks smoke? It didn’t look like you could handle it the other day.” JJ said to her, leaning over John B. to grab it back after she had taken a few hits. 

“Please. The stuff I’ve been doing this year would knock both of you on your asses.” Kie said as she stood up to find Pope. 

John B. told him that Kie probably smoked that luxury hybrid kush that Kooks had access too. JJ shrugged and took the blunt back and finished it. John B. let him.

They met Pope and Kie back at the port and got onto the ferry. 

“I swear to god, if my dad finds out what I just did all day, I’m dead.” Pope said, standing up and holding the railing instead of sitting on a bench. As if standing would make the ferry go any faster.

“He’s not gonna find out, Pope. Relax. You’ll be back in your little bedroom studying before you know it.” JJ said as he stretched his feet out and put them on the bench across from him. Kiara had to hop over them to get to her seat and JJ almost moved them for her before deciding against it. 

“So, that was fun. Kie, you wanna come to the Chateau on Saturday? We were gonna do a bonfire since my dad is going away. Some people from school are coming over.” John B. said to Kiara. 

She looked at JJ and he looked at his outstretched legs. He sure as hell wasn't going to look at her and give her permission to join them again. 

“I’ll have to check with my parents. I think they were taking Sarah and I to the- ” She cut herself off, realizing she shouldn’t have mentioned Rafe’s sister. 

“You still talk to Sarah?” John B. asked her, eyebrows raised. “You told me you guys were done after she got mad at you for punching Rafe.”

“Well, she was mad, but she realized he was being an asshole and we’re cool again. So I’ll have to check and see what day we were hanging and then I’ll text you.” Kiara said, but she looked over at JJ again for his reaction. 

“Let me get this straight. She lied to you, told you the Kooks rejected her, which makes perfect sense because why else would she hang out with us again, and now she’s crawling back to the Kooks and abandoning you to the back burner again? Remind me again why you thought today was a good idea, John B.?” JJ said. 

“Screw you, JJ. I’m tired of this. I said I’m sorry okay? I can be friends with you guys and be friends with Sarah. It’s not one or the other.” Kiara said. JJ could tell she was fed up from the day and was ready to fight. 

“It’s not one or the other? Seems like it has been for the past seven months!” JJ said back. 

“Yeah and I’ve said sorry a million times for that. I’m trying to change, but you’re not giving me a chance! Seems like you should be trying to change, JJ. You still act like you’re twelve!” Kiara said. The ferry docked and she stood up. 

“I’ll text you guys.” She said to John B. and Pope, who were looking between her and JJ with expressions of both terror and resignation. 

“Don’t even think about texting me!” JJ yelled after her. She turned and gave him a weird look before getting in the line to get off the ferry. 

“Well, that went well. Nice thinking, John B. That was definitely worth sneaking out of my house and potentially getting killed for.” Pope said as he pulled his hood back up and put his sunglasses on to go incognito. 

“Hey, don’t look at me. I think it went pretty well. JJ was the one having a temper tantrum all day.” John B. said as he stood up and they walked onto the dock.

“It’s been really nice having my suspension day hijacked and being attacked all day. I’m going to cherish these memories forever, John B. Really. But I’ve got a late afternoon shift at the club that I’ve got to head to. Unless the Camerons have gotten me fired already. Anyways, it’s been real. Pope, it was nice knowing you if you get killed. John B., you’re buying the weed for the next month to make up for this. Later, losers!” JJ ran over to his dirtbike and hopped on.

He thought he heard John B. yelling after him about rides and hot dogs being payment enough but he tuned him out. Stupid John B. had to go and ruin everything. 

_________________________________________________________

JJ pulled up to the country club ten minutes before his shift was supposed to begin. He only worked one shift during the week, Wednesday afternoons, but it was usually easier since it was typically the older crowd who had nothing better to do. He could usually take their plates and they wouldn’t even notice, which was a nice change for him. 

He went inside and clocked in and then pulled out his crinkled uniform shirt. He found Mama L and she took it and steamed it in the back. He told her it was extra wrinkly because he went to the boardwalk on the mainland today and she asked why he hadn’t brought her any cotton candy. He promised he would bring her some next time.

Once he was looking semi presentable, he went and grabbed his tray and started to head towards the dining room. He passed by his manager, Jake who was on the phone at the reservation desk and he stopped when Jake motioned for him to wait. 

“What in the hell happened with you and Ward Cameron’s son? He called here three times today and his big fancy lawyer called. Demanding that we fire you immediately because you are a- and I quote “violent lawless juvenile delinquent who is a danger to all of Figure Eight.” Jake said, doing air quotations. 

“What did he tell you?” JJ asked him, not willing to give up information. Shit, he thought. There goes my chance at keeping my job.

“That you and your other lawless juvenile delinquent friends beat his son bloody yesterday at some school event. And that he wanted to file charges but couldn’t so decided to seek out your termination from your job instead.” Jake said.

“Shit. I mean it was just a few punches after he had been harassing me for days. Not even days. Weeks. Months. Years. He was asking for it! And we’ve all already been suspended!” JJ protested. 

“My hands are tied, JJ. I’m sorry, but it’s not worth it to keep you. I can get another busboy in a second and it’s not worth legal drama and bad gossip to keep you around. I’m sorry, but you need to leave. You can leave your uniform in the storage closet. We’ll mail your last paycheck.”

JJ was so angry. He literally could not catch a break. First, his day out with his friends was ruined by Kie and now Ward Cameron was ruining his only reliable source of income?

He went to the back and ripped off his uniform, throwing it into the closet and changing back quickly. He said bye to Mama L, who looked upset, but he didn’t linger. He got on his bike and started to ride away, popping a wheelie and turning too quickly onto the main road. A Kook in a Mercedes honked and he flipped them off. At least he didn’t have to pretend to be polite to any of them anymore. 

He looked at his gas tank and saw that it was low. He had stupidly spent the last bit of his previous paycheck on the ferry and some weed and had no more money until he got his mailed paycheck, which would be tiny now. 

He didn’t feel like going to the Chateau because he was pissed at John B. for today and Pope was grounded. 

Without thinking too much, he sped off towards his house. His dad had started working with the smugglers again a few months ago and was making more money than usual. He occasionally saw stacks of cash and the increased amount of cocaine coming into their house. 

JJ knew he would give him an unfair cut if he helped, but he knew he could make money right away. He knew he was in self destruct mode and didn’t care. 

He parked his bike outside in the dirt and went around back to where he knew his dad worked on his projects. 

Luke barely looked up at him as he walked towards him. He stood a few feet away from him and watched him work, trying to figure out how to ask his dad if he could help. 

“Got fired from my job at the stupid country club.” He said, looking up at his dad and then back down at the hide.

“I know you did. Because fucking Ward Cameron has been threatening to sue my ass over you assaulting his boy. Going on and on about how he was gonna get you fired and take me to court.” Luke said, still not looking up. JJ couldn’t tell if he was mad.

JJ stayed quiet, preparing for Luke to fly off the handle. 

“I told him to get them to fire you instead. Shit, I mean you’re already suspended from school, not that you do shit there anyways. Don’t know why you had that white collar job anyways. Don’t know who you think you’re fooling. Walking around in a bowtie and shit.”

JJ bit his lip, trying to figure out what to say. He refrained from telling his dad that it was hardly a white collar job. His dad thought any job where you had to wear a shirt was white collar. Instead he said, “He deserved it.”

“I know he did. Told him that too. Told him that my boy wouldn’t have done it unless it needed to be done. You’ve never been much of a fighter. Just like your mother.” Luke said, stopping and looking at JJ.

JJ never failed to be surprised with how much and how little his dad knew about him. He had always been a fighter. Not by choice, but by necessity. But his dad could never see past his mom when he looked at him. 

“Can I work with you?” He asked his dad, preparing for the worst. 

His dad gave him a smile. It wasn’t nice, but it wasn’t his meanest. 

“Thought you’d never ask. Take your son to work day, right here. Grab a seat.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> In the words of JJ "enough with the regret, bro." It's about to get dark in the next year, and I'm here just laying the groundwork. I regret nothing! :)
> 
> I think I'm going to end their freshman year here. I posted the first chapter for their sophomore year in a new fic called "Ocean Breathes Salty" so hopefully you check it out! It will pick up right were this leaves off , it's just easier for me to separate their years into different fics! :)


End file.
